The wife of a man who was detained after his asylum hearing in San Francisco last week is speaking out and pleading for help.
Shaylyn Ordaz said her husband, Anyelo, was following the rules. He showed up to his asylum hearing, but on his way out, he was handcuffed and walked into a waiting vehicle by ICE agents in plain clothes.
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WATCH HERE"As soon as we walked out, there were, I don’t know, four, five, six agents waiting right there," Ordaz said. "They grabbed him. One of them grabbed me, and they pulled us apart. I heard the handcuffs, and my husband is not a criminal. So that just kills me."
The Alameda County man came to the U.S. in January 2024 from Colombia, seeking asylum because of his sexual orientation. He also has a pending I-130 application to officially document a family relationship with Shaylyn, an American citizen.
Ordaz said her husband is a man of God and doesn't have a criminal record.
"We are pretty much newlyweds, we just got married in December," she said.
Ordaz said the judge did not dismiss Anyelo's case on Friday, but he was still detained. He was later released, but detained again that same day.
"I couldn’t even hug my own husband, and that was it," Ordaz said.
Anyelo was taken to a detention center in McFarland, about 30 miles north of Bakersfield.
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SIGN UP On Tuesday, four men were detained at the immigration courts in San Francisco. All of them had shown up for their appointments.
A coalition of lawyers is monitoring the progress of the other cases in McFarland.
"What the Trump administration is doing shocks the conscience," said David Chiu, San Francisco City attorney. "It is illegal, it’s unconstitutional, and it’s immoral."
Chiu has been part of six lawsuits against the Trump administration and has had lower court wins in all the cases. He said the administration can expect more lawsuits because they are weaponizing the courts.
"The Trump lawyers are trying to dismiss the cases so that the proceeding ends and that they can try to scoop up these individuals after the fact," Chiu said. "They’re putting immigrants in an impossible situation: either skip hearings and risk deportations or risk being arrested by ICE while attending your court proceeding. It’s a Sophie’s choice."
The administration has dramatically stepped up its pace of deportations, according to ICE data obtained by NBC News.
In April, ICE deported more than 17,200 people, an increase of about 29% compared to the previous eyar.
"President Trump is keeping his promise to remove illegal aliens from the United States and Americans are hugely supportive," a White House spokesperson said.
The various detainments led to a protest outside the city's immigration courts on Wednesday. Demonstrators accused ICE of intimidation.
For those caught in the middle, like Ordaz, it's unclear if immigration lawyers will take her case or how much she'll have to shell out.
"I want not just the administration but everybody to know when people are talking about fake news, it’s not. This is happening," she said. "I’m an American-born citizen. I’m Native American. I’ve been here my whole life, and this is happening to me and my family."
