Federal immigration agents mistakenly raided the Oklahoma City home of a U.S. citizen family last week during an early morning operation, seizing their electronics and life savings in cash and leaving them standing outside in the rain in their undergarments. The family, who had recently relocated from Maryland, say they were not the intended targets of the search.
The incident occurred around 5 a.m. on April 24, when approximately 20 armed agents identifying themselves as members of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the FBI, and the U.S. Marshals Service forcibly entered the rental home. The mother, who identified herself only as Marisa, said the agents did not allow her or her daughters time to dress before forcing them outside.
"They wanted me to change in front of all of them, in between all of them," Marisa told KFOR. "My husband has not even seen my daughter in her undergarments-her own dad, because it's respectful. You have her out there, a minor, in her underwear."
A senior official from the Department of Homeland Security later confirmed the raid had targeted former residents of the address as part of a large-scale human smuggling investigation. "The previous residents were the intended targets," the official told Newsweek.
Marisa said agents ignored her repeated explanations that she and her daughters were U.S. citizens. The warrant presented to the family listed names they did not recognize, except from forwarded mail believed to be for previous tenants.
Despite the apparent error, agents proceeded to search the home, confiscating mobile phones, laptops, and the family's entire cash savings. Marisa said no official contact information or receipts were provided, and the agents refused to leave a business card.
"I told them before they left, I said you took my phone. We have no money. I just moved here," she said. "Like, how do you just leave me like this? Like an abandoned dog."
Marisa's husband remained in Maryland at the time and was expected to join the family days later. With their phones and cash seized, the family was left without means to communicate, buy food, or pay for transportation.
According to DHS, the raid was part of a coordinated enforcement action that resulted in indictments against eight Guatemalan nationals in connection with smuggling undocumented immigrants. Two of those indicted reportedly have prior convictions related to narcotics and identity fraud.
The Oklahoma raid has renewed criticism of ICE's aggressive tactics under the Trump administration, which has resumed controversial "collateral arrests" - detaining individuals who are not the primary target of immigration operations. A 2022 class-action settlement placed limitations on such arrests, but advocates say enforcement agencies continue to blur the lines.
Marisa questioned the protocols that led to her family's treatment. "What if I would have been armed?" she said. "You're breaking in. What am I supposed to think? My initial thought was we were being robbed-that my daughters, being females, were being kidnapped."
"Can you just reprogram yourself and see us as humans, as women? A little bit of mercy," she added. "What makes you more worthy of protecting your children?"
As of Wednesday, the family said they have not been contacted by DHS or ICE about retrieving their belongings. The U.S. Marshals Service denied involvement, and the FBI confirmed it only assisted in the operation. ICE has not responded to requests for comment.
