‘It can happen to anyone’: New Carrollton man detained by ICE, family says

Except for his home in New Carrollton and the places his job as a truck driver took him, Alfredo Herrera hardly went anywhere, his daughter said.

So when the 56-year-old husband and father called family members last Saturday to tell them he was in a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement holding center in Baltimore, they were shocked and afraid for him, Michelle Herrera told The Banner.

While Alfredo Herrera was working in Ellicott City around 9 a.m. on Oct. 31, ICE agents scanned his license plate, stopped his vehicle and detained him, he told family. Video taken by a bystander and shared on social media shows three ICE vehicles — one in front, one behind and one on the driver’s side — of Herrera’s van.

Michelle Herrera said her father doesn’t have a criminal record and, for the more than 20 years he’s been in Maryland, he has done little outside of going to work and coming home.

Now he’s being held at the Caroline Detention Facility in Bowling Green, Virginia, she said.

Neither ICE nor Department of Homeland Security officials responded to a request for comment Friday evening.

Herrera, who immigrated from Mexico decades ago, lives with his family in New Carrollton, a city in central Prince George’s County known to many as the eastern terminus of Metro’s Orange Line.

With Herrera’s detention coming on Halloween, the family tried to keep things as normal as possible for the youngest of the bunch, said Michelle Herrera, a 2022 graduate of Towson University. It wasn’t hard for her 13-year-old sister to miss her dad, because he was home so often.

After the initial phone call to his wife around 11 a.m. Oct. 31, family members said, they didn’t hear from Alfredo Herrera until around 4 p.m. the next day.

Michelle Herrera said the family can’t call him; he has to call them. They won’t be able to see him for the first 10 days of his detention and can visit him only on weekends, per the Caroline Detention Facility’s visitation policy. Tears welled in her eyes just talking about the process, which she said has been frustrating. She called what’s happening to her father inhumane.

“Every night, we’re waiting for his phone call because he calls at random times. … He just says that he’s cold over there,” Michelle Herrera said while crying. “My dad didn’t do anything, and they’re treating him like a prisoner.”

She, her 19-year-old brother and her 13-year-old sister have been especially upset by their father’s detainment. They’re trying to hold each other close and lighten their mom’s load. Michelle Herrera said she and her older sister have gotten groceries, cleaned up around the house and helped with school drop-off and pickup for the youngest.

Michelle Herrera has also taken to social media and reached out to local elected officials to spread awareness of her dad’s plight. The family has gotten an attorney and launched a fundraiser for legal expenses.

On Monday evening, the Bricks Run Club, which Michelle belongs to, and the NoVa Social Club, both in Northern Virginia, are dedicating their run to Alfredo Herrera.

At least 10 people and entities, including family and friends, state Sen. Alonzo T. Washington and the New Carrollton government, have sent letters calling for his release. Local officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Alfredo Herrera has a virtual hearing scheduled next week, Michelle Herrera said, and the family should be able to see him by Nov. 14.

The Herreras are not oblivious to the immigration crackdown that President Donald Trump launched after his return to office and its implications for families with immigrants. They’ve talked about it and taken precautions, such as scaling back their Sunday family outings, Michelle Herrera said.

“No matter how cautious someone can be,” she said, “it can happen to anyone.”