A Cleveland, Texas woman called 911 when her car burst into flames only to be told by responding Houston police officers that she faced deportation.
Guadalupe Perdomo was driving to work Monday morning along the Eastex Freeway near downtown Houston when her Kia Optima caught fire, captured on cell phone video.
In an interview in Spanish, she said it was very scary, but it was even scarier when she was detained and told she would be deported to her home country of Honduras.
Perdomo was handcuffed and put in a police car for an hour, she said.
A Houston Police Department spokesperson confirmed the woman was detained when the officer ran her identification and a system showed that she had an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) warrant for a deportation order.
When the responding officers verified the warrant with ICE, it turned out to be invalid, and she was released, the department said.
Perdomo came to the U.S. in 2018, she said, and after missing an immigration court date, her attorney Naimeh Salem explained that she received an automatic deportation order.
Perdomo is a survivor of domestic violence, which is the reason she missed that court date, Salem said, so she requested that the judge administratively close the immigration case while Perdomo awaits a U-visa, designed for victims of crime who assist law enforcement.
Salem estimated she’s been waiting about five years now but has work authorization in the meantime.
“It was completely unreasonable that they handcuffed her when she was just asking for help,” Salem said.
Salem expressed concern that the current political climate surrounding immigration has left her clients terrified.
“What is the message that it then sends people who might need to call for help?” reporter Bryce Newberry asked.
“Now people that are undocumented, they’re going to feel that if they call police or they call the firefighters, they might end up deported,” Salem responded. “She thought the normal thing to do was call the police if she was in trouble.”
Perdomo expressed her fear of returning to Honduras, saying she worried they’d kill her if she went back. She also worried about leaving her family behind, including her children, grandchildren, husband, and home.
Although her car is a total loss, Perdomo is now driving her daughter’s vehicle to continue her work cleaning houses.
After this ordeal, Perdomo said she fears she can no longer seek help for any issues she may face.
“While HPD officers do not ask about immigration status, they are required to contact the issuing agency when they encounter a person with a warrant. After verifying the warrant with ICE, the officer detains the individual and transfers custody to an ICE agent. Our department places the highest value on maintaining a safe, crime-free community. HPD routinely cooperates with our federal, state, and local partners while also following our own policies and procedure,” the Houston Police Department said in a statement to KPRC 2 News.
KPRC 2 reached out to ICE on Thursday regarding how officials ensure the validity of warrants in the system and prevent wrongful detentions.
An ICE spokesperson confirmed receipt of the request on Friday, but no answer has been provided yet.