INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — An Indianapolis woman was searching for answers Wednesday after federal immigration agents detained her brother Tuesday morning at an east-side job site.

Following reports of immigration activity throughout central Indiana Tuesday and Wednesday, Circle City Broadcasting contacted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to ask whether the agency was conducting a sweep.

An ICE spokesperson declined to confirm or deny the reports, saying in a statement: “ICE agents uphold our nation’s immigration laws in all 50 states, seven days a week, 24 hours a day.”

Dulce Morales said agents detained her brother, 27-year-old Milo Morales, while he worked at a job site Tuesday morning.

She tracked his phone’s last location to a parking lot off 38th Street on the far-east side. By the time she arrived, Dulce said he was gone. However, she said she approached a black SUV with tinted windows at the scene and met a man who identified himself as an ICE officer.

“He was wearing this vest, a green vest that says ‘Police – ICE’. He did identify himself as ICE as well,” Dulce said. “I asked, ‘Have you detained anyone? And he said, ‘Yeah, I’ve detained plenty of illegal immigrants.’”

Dulce said the agent told her they had taken several people into custody at the job site where her brother worked, but would not confirm if her brother was among them.

Hours later, Dulce received a call from Milo, who confirmed agents had detained him. She says that because Milo has no criminal record, he has no assigned federal identification number — often called an “A-number” — meaning the family cannot track where he will be transferred.

“We just want to know if he’s OK. We want to make sure he comes home. He’s a hard-working man … and I mean he’s going to be a dad soon, too. We just want him to come home,” Dulce said.

As a member of the military, Dulce says she feels disheartened to see what is happening to her brother.

“Working as a servicemember and finding out that they’re taking your family left and right, it’s really hard to keep showing up,” Dulce said.

Her family says no one has heard from Milo since 2:30 p.m. Tuesday at the east-side location. They remain unsure of his whereabouts or when the government will assign him a tracking number.

About The Author

See author's posts