In a recent incident at a Boston immigration courthouse, Diaz Martinez was arrested by ICE agents after attending her hearing, despite having a US citizen husband and two children back in the Dominican Republic.
Diaz Martinez, 29, had been in the United States for a little over a year, fleeing domestic violence in her home country. She had crossed the southern border unlawfully and was seeking asylum.
On the day of her hearing, many other petitioners entered and exited without issue, but Diaz Martinez’s case turned dire when the officers approached her. Faced with imminent arrest, she made a desperate plea not to be separated from her husband, Wiliz de Leon, whom she had just married a week prior.
Sarah Sherman-Stokes, a clinical associate professor of law at Boston University School of Law, who was in the courtroom to observe proceedings, interjected on behalf of Diaz Martinez, stating that she did not need to be taken into custody.
One of the ICE agents, however, responded, “We’re doing our job.” The couple, who had met in the Dominican Republic about four and a half years prior, had hoped that attending the court date would allow Diaz Martinez to remain in the country long-term and eventually reunite with her children.
Leon expressed feelings of betrayal the morning after his wife’s arrest, emphasizing their desire to comply with the law. He said, “We always want to follow the rules. I don’t understand what the motive for this is.”
The arrest aligns with a troubling new tactic in immigration enforcement: ICE is conducting arrests at immigration courthouses under the Trump administration’s policy of “expedited removal.” This policy allows for the deportation of recent immigrants without a court hearing.
In conjunction with this approach, Department of Homeland Security lawyers have been advocating for immigration court judges to dismiss cases or issue deportation orders against individuals in the country for less than two years during their initial hearings.
This leaves such immigrants increasingly vulnerable, as dismissals make them prime targets for expedited deportation.
In the past two weeks, these courtroom arrests have begun to spread in Massachusetts, with at least three people taken into custody at the Boston court on the same day as Diaz Martinez, including a political torture survivor from Angola, according to Sherman-Stokes.
While Diaz Martinez was taken into ICE custody, she appeared to be in need of medical assistance. She was struggling to breathe and experiencing chest pain and difficulty standing upright. Emergency Medical Services were called to assess her condition.
Despite the grim reality, ICE agents remained unmoved by appeals from Sherman-Stokes to allow Diaz Martinez to return home. An agent accompanied her to the hospital because she was in custody, and her husband was not permitted to join her in the ambulance or hospital room.
As Diaz Martinez was wheeled away, an EMS worker tried to comfort her in Spanish, saying, “You have to let him go,” prompting her to reluctantly release her husband’s hand.
Subsequently, she was transferred to Massachusetts General Hospital before being taken to the ICE field office in Burlington, where she has been held on a concrete floor in a detention cell alongside about a dozen other women.
Sherman-Stokes, who has practiced immigration law for over a decade, described this situation as distinctly distressing. “These are folks trying their very best to comply with the law, and instead they’re taken away in handcuffs,” she stated, reflecting on the harsh reality of asylum-seekers in the US.
Alongside criminal defense attorney Derege B. Demissie, Sherman-Stokes filed a habeas petition to prevent the transfer of Diaz Martinez out of state. A Massachusetts federal judge temporarily approved this motion last week.
Sherman-Stokes also filed for Diaz Martinez to be released on bond, as her husband Leon expressed the emotional toll of the situation. “She hasn’t stopped crying,” he said, voicing his escalating concern.
In a text message, he conveyed his uncertainty: “I don’t know what to do.”
As families like the De Leon-Diaz Martinez’s navigate an increasingly challenging immigration landscape marked by cold enforcement measures, the future remains uncertain for those seeking refuge and a better life in the United States.
image source from：https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/06/09/metro/ice-arrests-at-boston-immigration-court/
