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Armed ICE Agents Burst Into Mexican Man’s Home and Arrest Him by Mistake
The arrest of a Mexican asylum seeker by ICE has sparked complaints after an operation that, according to him, did not target him.
By  Ernesto Iván Vargas Martínez
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Arresto de ICE a mexicano por error, Armed ICE Agents Burst Into Mexican Man’s Home and Arrest Him by ICE Arrest Mistake
Foto Shutterstock

Posted on 11/22/25 at 19:10

  • Unexpected ICE arrest mistake leads to complaint
  • Viral video shows the operation
  • Asylum seeker affected

A 20-year-old Mexican asylum seeker has spoken out after being detained by federal agents during an operation that he says was not directed at him.

Napoleón Magaña, who arrived in the United States two years ago with his older sister, was arrested on October 15 in Gresham, Oregon, after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents burst into a bedroom inside an apartment.

The incident was recorded on video by his sister and quickly went viral on social media.

ICE Arrest of Mexican Man by Mistake

Agents entered the apartment while searching for an undocumented Mexican man who, according to what they told KPTV, had fled into that housing complex.

You may also like: Video Reveals ICE Raid in New York Home Where Agents Point Guns at a Woman and Her Children

An ICE spokesperson said the suspect had taken refuge in an apartment while being pursued, and that after refusing to come out, agents entered and detained two Mexican men.

Those detained were quickly identified by friends and relatives as Napoleón Magaña and Arturo Cabrera, the young man’s mother’s partner.

In the video recorded by Napoleón Magaña’s sister, agents can be heard asking for a man named “Israel,” who was not present.

Magaña said he explained his immigration status to the agents. “They didn’t care. I told them I had asylum and a court date, but they didn’t care—they took me anyway,” he told KPTV.

The young man insisted he had no connection to the person they were seeking.

“I think they got the wrong apartment, or I don’t know what happened. The problem is they had no reason to be here or do what they did, because we have nothing to do with it—we don’t even know the person they were supposedly looking for,” he said.

Two Weeks in Federal Custody

Napoleón Magaña spent two weeks detained in an ICE facility in Tacoma, Washington.

He said the place was overcrowded, with more than 70 people per cell, and that many detainees had pending cases but no criminal records, according to what he observed during his stay.

The ICE spokesperson told the outlet that although Magaña is no longer in custody, he must report to the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program.

This program uses monitoring technologies to track individuals with pending immigration cases to ensure they appear at future appointments and comply with release conditions.

Magaña’s next court appearance is scheduled for February.

Call for More Compassionate Treatment

After regaining his freedom, Napoleón Magaña said he hopes his case motivates federal authorities to adopt a more humane approach toward those facing immigration proceedings.

“ICE agents cannot treat people like this. Most of the people who come to this country come to work,” he said.

He also asked that families not be separated during ICE operations.

“Don’t separate families, because it’s terrible to have a family member in a detention center, since you have no idea what’s going to happen to them,” he added.