TRENTON, Mich. (WXYZ) — “I just don’t think that they realize that they’re separating families. I mean, he’s just such a good man,” says Ana Jaimes.
Ana and Hector Jaimes’ father, Jose, is being held in the St. Clair County Jail—caught up in President Trump’s ramped-up efforts to remove those in the country unlawfully. Ana and Hector say their father came to America from Mexico more than 30 years ago and acquired a work permit, which was recently renewed. He started his family, business, and a new life in metro Detroit.
“There’s five of us. I’m the oldest,” Ana said. “He has two grandkids.”
“Lots of people have been reaching out and saying like, ‘I’ve known him for years, and he’s such a good man,’” Ana continued.
“He always tried to give us a life that he wasn’t able to get while he was young,” said Hector Jaimes, a student-athlete at Tusculum University. “He was just always like, ‘go to school.’ He regrets not finishing high school. He was just like, ‘get an education.’”
The Jaimes family says federal agents followed Jose as he took one of his sons to school in Trenton. As he pulled off onto a side street to leave, agents pulled him over.
Extended interview: 'He's just such a good man.' Family describes beloved father detained by ICE
“They also pulled out guns on him," Ana says. "I feel like my dad is such a kind man that I cannot understand what he would have done wrong to pull out guns and to have gotten to that point."
NEST VIDEO: ICE arrest of man in Trenton caught on surveillance video
This week, the White House said ICE arrests of those in the country unlawfully have surged 627 percent and the number of those removed topped 50,000 as the Trump Administration continues getting those they describe as killers, rapists and drug dealers off the street.
But Jose has no record of criminal history—Ana and Hector have a hard time reconciling that with the president’s promise to go after the 'worst first.'
“It’s so hard to even process because even he told us when we talked to him this morning that one of the agents even told him, ‘You know, honestly, I don’t even know why you’re here because you have no record, you didn’t do anything bad.’” Ana said.
Right now, it’s unclear when or if Jose will appear before a judge.
We reached out to ICE/Homeland Security Investigations Thursday morning for comment. They release the following statement about this case through a spokesperson:
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested Jose Guadalupe Jaimes March 5, in Trenton, Michigan. Jaimes is an illegal alien from Mexico who was ordered removed by an immigration judge in 2014. Jaimes remains in ICE custody pending the outcome of his immigration proceedings.
