A San Antonio woman says U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers stopped her last week without an explanation and questioned her family about their citizenship.
The encounter, captured on video by another driver, has raised concerns about racial profiling and immigration enforcement tactics.
Monique Ramirez, a third-generation Mexican American and U.S. citizen, said she was driving on Fredericksburg Road in the Deco District when she noticed flashing lights behind her. She pulled over, initially assuming it was a San Antonio police officer.
She said an officer asked for her ID but did not tell her why she had been stopped.
Ramirez said she did not realize the officers were with ICE until one of them asked her daughter, who was sitting in the passenger seat, whether she was a U.S. citizen.
“I’m like looking at him like, ‘No, no, no, that’s my daughter; you can’t talk to her. She’s a kid,” Ramirez said. “Then he tells me, like, he told me, ‘Shut up, I’m not talking to you, I’m talking to her.”
The agent then asked Ramirez’s adult son, who was sitting in the back seat, about his citizenship status as well.
Ramirez said she knew her family had the right to remain silent, but the stop left them intimidated.
The mother said she worried about how quickly an encounter with ICE could escalate. Ramirez said she felt too scared in the moment to push back. Her daughter feared they would be deported.
“I feel those rights are kind of out the door right now, the rights that we think we have or that we’re supposed to have,” Ramirez said. “They don’t exist because they’re not supposed to be stopping people just based on how you look. That’s not something that’s supposed to be happening.”
The family was released after about two minutes. A community member who recorded the stop also asked officers why they pulled the family over, but Ramirez said no one answered.
Ramirez said she has replayed the stop repeatedly in her mind, trying to determine whether she had done anything wrong.
“I went back a million times in my mind, and I’m dissecting, like, did I do something wrong? Did I not make the stop complete? Did I take off a little too fast? Could I have done anything different?” Ramirez said. “There’s not a single thing that I did wrong, and there’s not a single thing I could have done differently to have prevented that stop because it was never about a traffic stop. It was never anything wrong. It was just about verifying if three people in a car with this skin color are from here or illegal.”
The stop comes amid heightened scrutiny of immigration enforcement in Texas. A Texas Tribune investigation found that one in four ICE arrests under U.S. President Donald Trump occurred in Texas.
A September 2025 U.S. Supreme Court ruling allows agents to make stops based on a person’s ethnicity, race or language.
KSAT asked the San Antonio ICE office for a response to Ramirez’s concerns about racial profiling. Here’s what a spokesperson sent us:
“ICE law enforcement officers use ‘reasonable suspicion’ to investigate immigration status and probable cause to make arrests consistent with the statute and the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Supreme Court has already vindicated us on these practices.
Allegations that DHS law enforcement engages in ‘racial profiling’ are disgusting, reckless, and categorically FALSE. What makes someone a target for immigration enforcement is if they are illegally in the U.S.—NOT their skin color, race, or ethnicity. ICE has authority for lawful arrests under 8 USC 1357. Law enforcement officers use ‘reasonable suspicion’ to investigate immigration status and probable cause to make arrests consistent with the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Supreme Court has already vindicated us on these practices.
We encourage all illegal aliens to take control of their departure with the CBP Home App. The United States is offering illegal aliens $3,000 and a free flight to self-deport now. We encourage every person here illegally to take advantage of this offer and reserve the chance to come back to the U.S. the right legal way to live the American dream. If not, you will be arrested and deported without a chance to return.”
To file a formal complaint about misconduct regarding an ICE officer, click here.
