‘It’s been extremely difficult’: Butler County man returns home after being detained by ICE

A Butler County family is trying to move forward after a months-long ordeal that ended with a surprise release from federal immigration custody.

“It’s been extremely difficult, it’s been extremely difficult,” Ignacio Carrizalez said.

Carrizalez is now back home with his wife, Amanda, and their 6-year-old daughter after spending more than two months in detention.

According to Carrizalez, the situation began in April when he was pulled over by an Evans City police officer who believed his vehicle registration had expired.

Shortly after providing his license and registration, Carrizalez said Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents surrounded his vehicle.

“They was asking me if I was a U.S. citizen, and I told them I refuse to answer that question,” Carrizalez said.

Despite telling agents he was married to a U.S. citizen, Carrizalez said he was detained without an explanation.

He was taken to the Moshannon Valley Processing Center near Philipsburg, where he said he spent weeks wondering when he would see his family again.

“They put all of us in one cell, and at first it was me and another guy,” Carrizalez recalled. “After a couple hours, they bring in, all at once, maybe six more.”

His wife said the detention has taken a significant emotional toll on the family.

“Seems like ICE is running the way they want to and they’re not answering to anybody,” Amanda Smail-Carrizalez said.

The family’s situation changed unexpectedly Thursday.

Amanda Smail-Carrizalez said she was visiting her husband when he told her to keep her phone nearby.

“He said these people are going to call you, stay by your phone, and within two minutes, a deportation officer called me and said they are releasing him,” she said.

The release came as a surprise.

Carrizalez said he had been scheduled for a transfer to another facility in Mexico.

He and his wife said they have not received an explanation from ICE about why the transfer did not occur or why he was released.

The family is still searching for answers about why Carrizalez was detained for more than two months.

“He’s my husband, and he’s documented; I have a stack of documentation,” Smail-Carrizalez said. “If you’re going to take him, you should take a moment to look at the documentation.”

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