Homeowner Called ICE on Migrants She Hired, Worker Says

I would rather have the undocumented workers live in my neighborhood than the greedy scheming homeowner who used these men for their skills and then not only stole their hard earned agreed to payment but also screwed them into what is basically a prison awaiting deportation to a place they may have no connection with.  Ask yourself which party is the more moral and just?  I read that the homeowner gave ICE the ladder to get to the men.  This is slave labor and the reason why big companies use undocumented workers, they can hold their status over them to abuse them.  Hugs

https://www.newsweek.com/homeowner-called-ice-on-migrants-she-hired-worker-says-11742032

Mar 26, 2026 at 02:06 PM EDT

updated

Mar 27, 2026 at 05:38 AM EDT

+1

By Dan Gooding, Billal Rahman, Joshua Rhett Miller, and Amanda Castro

Newsweek is a Trust Project member

A homeowner in Maryland allegedly waited until immigrant workers had arrived to start a project on her house before calling U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on them.

The moment in Cambridge was captured on video and shared on social media by a co-worker identified as Bryan Polanco.

“Seeing it is not the same as experiencing it,” Polanco could be heard saying in Spanish in the video reviewed by Newsweek. “I’ve seen many videos, and sadly today I had to experience it.”

A spokesperson for ICE told Newsweek, “This was a targeted enforcement operation, not a tip from a caller. On March 23, ICE conducted targeted enforcement operations near Cambridge, Maryland, resulting in the arrest of six illegal aliens. Of those arrested, several have final orders of removal—a felony—and one has been previously convicted of illegal reentry. 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.

https://x.com/LongTimeHistory/status/2036966623995724180?s=20

https://x.com/LongTimeHistory/status/2036966623995724180

Newsweek reached out to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the construction company believed to have employed the workers, the reported homeowner, and Polanco for comment on Thursday afternoon.

Why It Matters

The video is the latest in a string of widely shared clips of federal agents arresting and detaining alleged illegal immigrants as part of the Trump administration’s mass deportation policy.

Immigrants without legal status are known to work in key industries, including construction, and advocates have raised concerns multiple times that they would be targets for ICE, despite largely lacking criminal histories. 

Stills from a video shared on social media of ICE agents arresting Guatemalan construction workers in Cambridge, Maryland, on March 23, 2026. | Instagram/@elsalvadordeantes

What To Know

The video was originally shared to Instagram as a 30-minute livestream before appearing as an edited clip on X on Wednesday afternoon. 

In the footage, which begins on the roof of the property, federal agents could be seen on the lawn waiting for workers to get down. A ladder is brought, the workers get to the ground and ICE officers begin making arrests.

Polanco, the man believed to be filming and narrating the incident, is heard saying they are surrounded and telling agents he is filming, which he is entitled to do. He told agents that he was cooperating and asked why they were there. 

Agents were then seen holding a group of workers on a mat on the ground before taking them away while the construction materials were left behind. 

The woman was reported to owe the workers $10,000 for a three-day job, according to Univision, a local TV network. If that is proved to be true, she could potentially face charges under Maryland law, which includes a clause on a person not being able to obtain labor from another person if their consent is induced with the threat or wrongful use of notifying law enforcement of the worker’s undocumented or illegal immigration status. This also applies to withholding wages.

The outlet reported that the men were Guatemalan nationals and had traveled from Glen Burnie to start the project. Polanco told Univision that the woman said that if immigrants came back to finish the job, she would call ICE again.

Newsweek has not yet been able to identify the immigrants arrested or confirm their immigration status. 

What People Are Saying

Bryan Polanco told Univision: “Very sad about the situation…many Hispanics here in the United States have felt like they were being persecuted. We left home and we don’t know if we are going to return.”

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, on X: “Very serious and disturbing allegation about a homeowner calling ICE on people working on her roof to avoid having to pay them. While the facts aren’t fully in yet, if the allegation is true it seems that this would be a felony under Maryland law.”

What Happens Next

DHS is yet to provide details on those arrested. Some social media users reacting to the video said the homeowner could face charges if she employed immigrants to carry out work, knowing she would call law enforcement on them.

Update, 03/27/26, 11:57 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from ICE.