A woman is facing backlash after allegedly calling ICE on construction workers who were finishing up a roofing job at her home in Cambridge, Maryland. In a video, recorded and livestreamed on Facebook by Bryan Polanco, a co-worker with permanent residency, from the roof of the property, federal agents can be seen waiting on the lawn for the workers.
X account @LongTimeHistory, which posted a clip from the video, alleges the woman owed the workers $10,000. In the video, which now has millions of views, Polanco says: “We came to fix this lady’s house, and she’s the one who turned us in. Fixing up her house and still with hatred in her heart.”
Polanco repeated this when speaking to Univision DC, saying that she had told him she had planned to report the workers. “What she did tell me, and I told one of the other guys, is that if immigrants come back again to finish the project, she’s always going to call ICE,” he told the outlet.
The woman, who has been identified as Karen Trevino denies that she, or her father who owns the home and also appears in the video and can be heard saying that he is “pro-ICE,” had anything to do with reporting the workers. Trevino told The Baltimore Sun that she didn’t make the call and she’s worried for the safety of her family due to the backlash on social media. “They are accusing me of calling ICE when I didn’t,” she said.
In a statement on Thursday, ICE said the raid was simply part of “targeted enforcement” in the area. “Of those arrested, several have final orders of removal — a felony — and one has been previously convicted of illegal reentry,” an ICE spokesperson told The Sun. “During the encounter, the aliens refused to comply with lawful orders, taunted officers and attempted to flee. The illegal aliens ultimately complied and were taken into custody.”
While Trevino denies that she reported the workers, she’s earned the ire of social media. In multiple clips of the post which have been circulating across social media platforms, comments about “karma” catching up to Trevino are rampant, with some suggesting that she should probably leave the country.
While not entirely clear what happened that led to the ICE raid at this particular home, ICE is relying on the public to report individuals they believe may be undocumented. A page on ICE’s website gives the public information on how to report someone they believe may not have legal status in the U.S. The page also features a phone number where reports can be made completely anonymously. According to ICE, the page averages around 15,000 calls each month.
While it may be in a citizen’s right to call ICE on someone they suspect doesn’t have legal status, homeowners should be aware that calling authorities to avoid paying for services could be punishable by Maryland law, which states: “A person may not obtain, attempt to obtain, or conspire to obtain money, property, labor, services, or anything of value from another person with the person’s consent, if the consent is induced by wrongful use of actual or threatened … notification of law enforcement officials about another person’s undocumented or illegal immigration status.”