Spokane man arrested by ICE spent more than a decade trying to obtain legal status

He was heading to work, when Martin Diaz realized his truck was being followed. In the rain, a minivan, a truck — both silver, and black Dodge Charger were tailing him around the streets of Spokane. That’s when he decided he was better off at home.

After parking his car in front of his house, Diaz made a dash for a gate into his backyard. But before he could make it, he was grabbed by men who were apparently federal immigration agents.

Amid a mix of expletives in Spanish and English, Diaz shouted, “Get out of my house,” to one of the first men to grab him.

They pulled him off the swinging gate that led into his fenced backyard, got him down on the wet grass of the front lawn, arrested him, and took him away.

The whole time Diaz’s roommate was watching and yelling at the men. The roommate texted Diaz’ wife, Kendall Diaz. She ran home to watch the surveillance video and see firsthand what had happened to her husband.

“My initial reaction is just like this physical wave of sickness, and then comes fear, because I don't know when I'm gonna see him again,” she said. “I don't know if he's safe.”

Since President Trump took office Jan. 20, dozens of people who otherwise weren't a priority for ICE in Washington state, have been arrested because of their immigration status. More than 1,300 people were reportedly detained at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma at the end of April, up from 880 people reportedly held there in March.

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As the number of arrests increases, more people are documenting their abduction by federal agents, leaving friends and family stunned, people in ICE custody unsure about their future, and others in their community fearful of future raids and arrests.

In Spokane, Kendall and Martin Diaz had been married for six and a half years. They had tried to get Martin legal status, but setbacks like important immigration letters from federal agencies being sent to a wrong address, and previous convictions, had made it difficult. Martin Diaz had been living in the U.S. since he was 1.5 years old.

When he was arrested by federal law enforcement, Martin Diaz was well on his way to solidifying his legal status, again.

“Last year we filed our I-130 through our marriage and it was accepted. We received a letter in the mail last week requesting his application for his visa,” wrote Kendall on her post on social media sharing the video of her husband's arrest this week. An I-130 is a way for a U.S. citizen to petition for a spouse to get legal status. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service is the department that manages the process.

The federal law enforcement officers who showed that April morning had different priorities.

"They still came onto our property, into our backyard without a warrant,” Kendall Diaz said. “They chased, tackled and assaulted my husband and then detained him.”

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A federal database shows Martin Diaz previously had an immigration case that was dismissed in 2012, after which he was told to self deport — but federal agencies have received a motion to reopen his case in February of this year.

The family’s immigration attorney submitted the motion soon after federal immigration officials first came to the couples home back in February. Kendall Diaz took video of that interaction. It shows U.S. Border Patrol surrounding and interrogating her roommate, who was a U.S. citizen. Diaz said they called her husband, who wasn’t present in that interaction, a “bad man.”

Federal agencies, including immigration enforcement, have told KUOW they seek to detain, and deport serious criminal offenders who are not authorized to live in the United States, casting as wide a net as possible.

Martin Diaz has an assault charge from 2008 when he was 18 years old, and malicious mischief from 2017, his wife said. Kendall and Martin were friends throughout these years, including when he was charged with assault, in connection to a previous relationship.

“It was a blowout. I mean, there was a physical altercation between him and his father in law, and he still grieved the relationship that he thought he was going to have for his life,” she said.

Over those years she’s seen him change and grow, and in turn their friendship turned into a marriage. Through those years they’ve helped each other. She said recently her husband has been there to help her quit drinking and stay sober.

“I'm a very intense person, and he is a very relaxed person, so he balances me out,” she said.

“He'll always remain my best friend and my partner in life. And then he's also the biggest thorn in my ass, because he pulls pranks on me, and he loves jokes and getting under my skin, but keeps me on my toes.”

Diaz said she expects her husband to be sent to the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, where the family expects he’ll have time in front of an immigration judge to plead his case. They’ve also now hired a criminal attorney to help get his convictions pardoned by the governor’s office, in hopes of giving Martin a chance to stay in the U.S.

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The family is fundraising to help pay for the legal fees.

“He's a huge advocate in my corner, for my well being, and it's been amazing. And then, vice versa, I get to be there for him when it comes to immigration,” Kendall Diaz said.