A criminal was arrested by ICE—and the wife, a council member is upset. Her husband broke the law. This Democrat does not want law breakers arrested. She is breaking her oath of office.
“Yadira Perez, who sits on the Coachella City Council, captured the moment when Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents surrounded them before arresting her husband, Isidro Jimenez-Ibanez.
“My family was just separated. They have taken my kids’ father. Those are the desperate cries of help,” the councilmember said in a video shared on social media. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) later said the man is a Mexican national in the country illegally, with an extensive criminal record.”
She knew he was breaking the law. Why wasn’t she arrested for obstruction of justice and harboring a criminal?
Armed ICE Agents Raid Denver Apartments To Remove ‘Threat of Criminal Aliens’
Newsweek, 2/27/25 https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/california-councilwoman-s-husband-arrested-by-ice-amid-trump-crackdown/ar-AA1zWcPd?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=37eab31d5282461e93ab1d5e73c45d6f&ei=16
Federal agents arrested a California councilwoman’s husband in a Walmart parking lot on Monday, a move she said came out of nowhere.
Yadira Perez, who sits on the Coachella City Council, captured the moment when Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents surrounded them before arresting her husband, Isidro Jimenez-Ibanez.
“My family was just separated. They have taken my kids’ father. Those are the desperate cries of help,” the councilmember said in a video shared on social media. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) later said the man is a Mexican national in the country illegally, with an extensive criminal record.
Newsweek reached out to Perez via email and the FBI via phone for comment.
Why It Matters
Jimenez-Ibanez’s arrest comes amid increased ICE operations across the country to detain illegal immigrant criminals. President Donald Trump was elected on the back of a campaign promising such action, with new Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem promising violent criminals would be swiftly deported.
Americans largely support immigration reform overall but disagree about how policies such as deportations should be carried out. A New York Times/Ipsos poll carried out from January 2 to 10 found that 55 percent of voters strongly or somewhat supported deportations. Eighty-eight percent supported “Deporting immigrants who are here illegally and have criminal records.” Large majorities of both Democrats and Republicans agreed that the immigration system is broken.
What To Know
The 51-year-old’s arrest outside the Walmart in Coachella came as part of “targeted enforcement action,” ICE said in a press release.
Jimenez-Ibanez entered the United States at an unknown date and time. He was convicted by the Superior Court of California, County of Riverside, on August 18, 1994, for possession of a controlled substance for sale. He was deported back to Mexico in March 1995, but he illegally reentered the U.S. sometime before 1998.
On June 4, 1998, Jimenez was convicted of inflicting corporal injury to a spouse. He was later convicted of a DUI on September 11, 2007, and assault with a deadly weapon on February 16, 2023.
Following Jimenez’s arrest on Monday, Perez told NBC Palm Springs: “The separation of family is not right. It’s inhumane.” She told the outlet that agents said her husband had a deportation order, but they did not show her any papers.
ICE has been working with the FBI and other agencies under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to increase arrests of known illegal immigrant criminals over the past month, with the department saying Wednesday that 20,000 people had been arrested since January 20.
What People Are Saying
ICE Enforcement Removal Operations Los Angeles, on X, formerly Twitter: “One less criminal threatening the people of Coachella, California.”
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, on increased arrests Wednesday: “President Trump and this Administration are saving lives every day because of the actions we are taking to secure the border and deport illegal alien criminals. Hundreds of thousands of criminals were let into this country illegally. We are sending them home, and they will never be allowed to return.”
What Happens Next
ICE said that Jimenez-Ibanez was being held pending removal proceedings, but he was reportedly released on bond on Tuesday, pending a hearing in April.
