ICE Arrests Mother and Separates Her from Her Child in Massachusetts
Posted on11/10/25 at 14:38
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation ended with the arrest of a mother and the temporary separation of her family during a traffic stop on Kimball Street, in Fitchburg, Massachusetts.
The incident, which occurred on the morning of Thursday, November 6, was recorded by local residents and quickly sparked protests at the scene, along with strong criticism directed at the authorities.
ICE Arrests Massachusetts Mother: Footage of the Arrest
The footage, captured by resident Quejanae Beavers-Hatter over nearly two hours, shows the moment ICE agents, wearing hoods, detained a couple traveling with their young child.
As time passed, more neighbors gathered to document and protest the agents’ actions, creating a tense atmosphere.
Local police arrived to form a cordon between demonstrators and federal agents, leading to verbal confrontations and accusations of excessive force.
According to witnesses, agents stated that the woman was the target of the operation, not her husband, as initially believed.
Amid the confusion, an attorney claiming to represent the detained woman requested to speak with her client but was denied access by an agent, who said it was an “active investigation scene.”
Tension and Medical Emergency During the Arrest
The most critical moment of the operation came when agents attempted to remove the woman’s husband from the vehicle.
The video shows the man appearing to suffer a medical episode, possibly convulsions, while an agent held him by the neck and pressed a thumb against the side of his head.
The woman, holding her baby, threw herself over her husband to protect him as agents tried to separate them. Seconds later, the agent released his grip, and the convulsions stopped.
Eventually, the woman voluntarily exited the vehicle and was arrested, while the man was released and left with the child, according to local police.
Identification of the Detainee and Federal Response
Hours later, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) identified the woman as Juliana Milena Ojeda-Montoya, a citizen of Ecuador.
In a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter), DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin described her as a “violent illegal immigrant”, claiming that in August she had “repeatedly stabbed a co-worker with scissors” and later “thrown a trash can at her.”
However, Storyful could not independently verify those allegations or confirm whether formal charges had been filed.
The DHS also stated that Ojeda-Montoya and her husband, Carlos Zapata Rivera, entered the U.S. irregularly on February 22, 2023, and were later released “under the Biden administration.”
McLaughlin criticized the protesters as “agitators” who tried to obstruct the arrest and denied that the man had suffered a real medical emergency.
“The target (Ojeda-Montoya) threw the child into her husband’s arms while pretending to have a medical episode. She refused treatment and showed no signs of distress minutes later,” McLaughlin said.
Local Police Response to the Arrest of Juliana Milena Ojeda-Montoya and Legal Context
The Fitchburg Police Department stated that its role in the operation was limited to maintaining public order after ICE requested support, claiming that protesters were “endangering” federal agents.
“The role of our officers in these situations is to maintain peace,” the department said in a statement.
“We have no authority to intervene in federal enforcement actions.”
The ICE arrest of the Massachusetts mother occurred the same day that a federal judge in Chicago issued an order limiting the use of force by immigration agents, after determining that senior officials had lied about threats from protesters in previous cases.
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