ICE Detains Immigrant Father Outside Home Depot While He Was on His Way to Work

ICE detention outside Home Depot

Family launches GoFundMe campaign

Son serves in the Navy

Mauricio Prado, a 45-year-old Mexican immigrant worker, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents outside a Home Depot in Santa Ana, California, on Monday morning — a case that has moved the local community and sparked outrage on social media.

Prado had gone to the construction materials store to buy tools before heading to a job he had gotten through a friend.

According to his family, Mauricio is the household’s only breadwinner, and his sudden detention has left his wife and four children — three of them minors — in uncertainty.

ICE Home Depot detention: Mexican father arrested outside store

A MEXICAN FATHER OF 5, including a son in the Navy, was picked up by ICE outside a HOME DEPOT in CA. He was getting materials to go to work for a friend. He has been in the U.S. for 28 years. A daughter says: “He is not a criminal.” https://t.co/DY40zo2O0o pic.twitter.com/Mc6PS0WWyh

— Al Norman (@SprawlBusters) October 12, 2025

The arrest was caught on video by a family friend who witnessed the exact moment ICE agents handcuffed him and placed him in an official vehicle.

RELATED ARTICLE: Hispanic Father with Active Immigration Case Detained by ICE in San Antonio as Family Pleads for Help

In the footage, the friend can be heard asking the agents to remove their masks during the operation, questioning their conduct during the arrest.

Kristal Navarro, Mauricio Prado’s eldest daughter, said her father posed no threat and was simply focused on working to support his family.

Family pleads to stop deportation and seeks justice

Family says father of Navy service member detained by ICE: https://t.co/JWVnaUWpVC pic.twitter.com/ghMAAqZaPR

— WAVE (@wave3news) October 12, 2025

She explained that her father came to the United States from Mexico when he was just 17 years old and has lived in the country ever since without any criminal record or legal issues.

Navarro said her father had tried to regularize his immigration status in the past, but the process was too expensive for the family, according to ABC7.

Lacking the thousands of dollars required for legal fees, Prado decided to continue working honestly to provide for his children.

Mauricio has been described as a hardworking man devoted to his family, always present in his children’s lives — attending their school events and sports activities.

Navy son seeks legal aid for his father

One of his sons, Jacob, currently serves in the United States Navy, making Mauricio Prado’s detention even more painful. The family had hoped Jacob’s military service might help his father gain immigration protection through the Parole in Place program.

This program offers temporary legal status to immediate family members of active-duty military personnel, but so far, their petition has not moved forward.

The mother of Prado’s children said the family is going through a very difficult time as they await news about his legal status and fear a possible deportation.

To cover legal and living expenses, friends and relatives have created a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds and prevent the family from losing their home and stability while facing immigration proceedings.

The Santa Ana community has begun organizing support for the Prado family, arguing that Mauricio poses no threat and was simply working to provide for his loved ones.

Meanwhile, his children insist that their father’s hard work and sacrifice should not be criminalized — and that his detention is deeply unjust.