ICE Detains US Citizen Teens Who Say They Were Going to Enlist in Marines - Newsweek

Two Texas teenagers say they were assaulted and detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents when they stopped to observe an immigration raid on their way to a U.S. Marines recruitment office.

According to one of the boys' mothers, Teresa Ochoa, the 17-year-olds are both American citizens who had stopped to record enforcement action in Alamo, Texas, on September 11, when agents pulled one out of his car and handcuffed him on the ground. His friend was allegedly assaulted.

Footage of the incident was shared on social media, appearing to show an agent hitting one of the boys four times.

Luis Ochoa, who could not be reached for comment on Friday, said agents also deployed pepper spray during the encounter.

"[They] arrested me for no reason," he told KRGV.com. "They got on top of me saying, 'Don't resist.' I was never resisting. They broke my wrist."

Ochoa’s mother, meanwhile, said she was troubled by the incident.

"He is a minor," Teresa Ochoa told the outlet. "It's traumatic enough for an adult, for something like this to happen to him is really tough. It was eight hours without hearing from him. They wouldn't give me any information—they behaved very badly."

DHS described the two teenagers as anti-ICE agitators who had tried to obstruct federal agents, with a spokesperson telling Newsweek that any violence toward ICE officers would not be tolerated.

"Our officers carry out their Congressionally mandated duties in service to public safety and the rule of law,'" a spokesperson said. "Any bystander or individual who assaults, obstructs, or violently attacks officers will be subject to arrest and prosecution permitted by law."

Newsweek reached out to the Alamo Police Department for comment Friday.

In the footage, a red car is seen stopped in the middle of the street with individuals believed to be ICE agents in plain clothes standing by the driver and passenger doors. Two of the agents then try to pull the passenger out of the car before using force to place him on the ground and handcuff him.

The driver is then seen getting out of the vehicle and appears to be in distress over what is happening to his friend, who is then seen being repeatedly hit by an agent. The person recording the video is heard shouting, "He's a minor."

Other agents wearing ICE stab vests are then seen with the driver on the sidewalk, holding him on the ground and cuffing him too.

The driver, Luis Ochoa, told Telemundo that they had stopped to record agents detaining people when agents turned their attention on them.

Ochoa said he told ICE he was a U.S. citizen, with an agent allegedly responding, "I don't give a damn. Your parents can't help you now."

The pair were reportedly held for eight hours before being released, per Telemundo.

Texas Representative Henry Cuellar, a Democrat, told Newsweek he was "very concerned" by the footage.

“Any use of force by authorities should be thoroughly and immediately investigated. As Ranking Member of Homeland Security Appropriations, I brought up my concerns directly to ICE leadership and look forward to answers on this incident in a timely manner," he said in a statement.

Cuellar was not alone in voicing concerns, with fellow Texas Democratic Representative Vicente Gonzalez posting on X that the agents' actions were "shameful, fear-inciting" tactics.

"These are not the values we would ask of future service members who sign up to risk their lives for our families in the name of freedom; we cannot normalize the continued abuse of power, unnecessary use of force, and profiling being deployed by a rogue ICE agency," he wrote. "Failure to repeal these extreme Republican policies will dissuade future generations of younger South Texans, individuals who seek to help others, from contributing to our country."

DHS's version of events included allegations that one of the boys had banged repeatedly on an ICE vehicle's window. The department also said agents had used the minimum force necessary to contain the situation.

"Officers were assisting their fellow law enforcement officers in a vehicle stop when the two agitators began to harass them and impede the arrest," a DHS spokesperson said. "Officers worked to get the situation under control. Officers then left the scene and were stopped at a traffic light.

"The two agitators climbed into their vehicle and chased the officers down the road and began to harass and approach the government vehicle. One agitator began to bang on the officer’s window. Officers verbally commanded the agitator to stop his actions, but he refused."

DHS said that when its officers exited their vehicle and attempted to detain the boy, he became "verbally and physically combative and resisted officers."

The spokesperson said Ochoa then got out of the car and interfered, although it was not clear from the video if this was the case. They added that deportation officers received minor injuries during the incident.

The incident in Alamo is the latest in a string of altercations between federal agents and those documenting or protesting their actions under the Trump administration.

DHS has argued that agents are coming under attack at a higher rate than ever before, while footage has repeatedly shown agents using force to deal with protesters, many of whom are American citizens, and multiple cases of U.S. citizens being detained have been reported.

Some of these altercations have turned fatal. In Minneapolis in January, Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, both Americans, were shot and killed by ICE and CBP agents, respectively, during protests against sweeping raids in the city.

In Texas, an ICE agent shot and killed U.S. citizen Ruben Ray Martinez when his vehicle entered a traffic stop area on South Padre Island in March 2025. The connection to ICE was not revealed until a Newsweek review of an American Oversight FOIA request in February 2026.

Lawmakers have sought greater accountability for federal agents, including a push for body-worn cameras. ICE received funding for the cameras as part of its vastly expanded budget, but DHS said the rollout slowed because of federal government shutdowns.

Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Jason Lemon and Sam Wilson.