Armed federal agents broke down the door of a Queens apartment before sunrise, dragged a mother from her bed while she breastfed her infant, and pointed assault rifles at her children. The person they came for hadn’t lived there in years.
The November 13, 2025 raid in East Elmhurst has become a flashpoint in debates over immigration enforcement tactics and constitutional protections, particularly after whistleblowers revealed the policy allowing such entries.
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The 5:30 AM Raid
Jennifer Diaz was in bed with her four children when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and U.S. Marshals forced entry into the basement apartment. Her husband Rigoberto had left for his shift at the restaurant where he’s worked for 24 years.
Surveillance footage shows agents in tactical gear carrying assault rifles and wearing helmets. One held a riot shield marked “U.S. Marshal.” Another wore a neck gaiter with “ICE” printed on it. An agent spotted a security camera in the bushes and turned it away from the scene.
Video recorded by Jennifer inside the apartment captured what happened next.
“I have my baby, no!” she screams as an agent stands in her bedroom doorway, flashlight and weapon pointed at her.
“Then I’m coming to get you by your baby,” the agent responds before entering.
Jennifer says agents dragged her by her hair from the bed. She says they pointed an assault rifle at her 13-year-old daughter. Her other children are 10, 6, and 2. All four are U.S. citizens.
Wrong Address, Real Warrant
Federal agents were looking for Raymundo Gabriel Huerra-Betancourt, Jennifer’s cousin. According to the Department of Homeland Security, Betancourt has a criminal record including assault, reckless driving, and illegal re-entry. Agents had a criminal arrest warrant for him.
The problem: Betancourt hadn’t lived at Jennifer’s address in years.
DHS says the East Elmhurst apartment appeared on Betancourt’s probation paperwork and was linked to his Social Security number and phone records. The family and the New York Immigration Coalition say he moved out long ago.
After searching the apartment, agents forced Jennifer to call her cousin. He answered on the second try and agreed to turn himself in at the apartment later. The agents left, saying they would return the next week to look for him again.
Two Versions of What Happened
The Family: Agents broke down the door without announcing themselves or showing a warrant. They used physical force to remove Jennifer from bed while she was with her children. They pointed guns at the children when the family tried to record the incident again. The raid was a violent home invasion.
DHS: Officers knocked for 20 minutes before entering. Jennifer refused to respond to knocking and refused to comply with commands. Officers never pointed guns at children and “safely guided” the family to the kitchen during the search.
Neither side disputes that agents entered with weapons drawn, that children were present, or that the target of the warrant was not there.
Police Arrived, Then Left
Neighbors saw armed men breaking into the building before 6 AM. Multiple people called 911, reporting what they thought was a burglary in progress.
NYPD officers responded to the break-in call. Surveillance video shows the police cruiser pulling up outside the apartment. Officers spoke briefly with federal agents on the sidewalk, then drove away.
Ron Kuby, a civil rights attorney representing the family, says the city could require NYPD officers to document these encounters by recording badge numbers and names of federal agents at the scene.
“That would be a good first step,” Kuby told THE CITY.
Four Children Too Scared to Leave Their Mother
The children haven’t been to school since the raid. They won’t leave Jennifer’s side.
Her 6-year-old daughter asked how to properly raise her hands when someone points a gun at you. “I have to be here when they come, to defend you,” the child said about staying home from school.
One night all four children slept together, wrapped in blankets. The family moved to a hotel. They’re afraid to go back.
Rigoberto says he feels guilt for being at work when it happened. “I’ve been working in the same restaurant for 24 years, I’ve never done anything wrong. My wife has been here for 17 years,” he said. “We never imagined anything like this would happen.”
The Policy Behind the Raid
Six months before the Queens raid, on May 12, 2025, Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons signed an internal memo that changed how agents could enter homes.
The memo states ICE agents can forcibly enter residences using administrative warrants rather than warrants signed by judges. Administrative warrants are issued by Department of Homeland Security officials, often by ICE agents themselves.
This differs from judicial warrants, which require a judge or magistrate to review evidence and authorize entry.
Whistleblowers revealed the memo to Congress in January 2026. It had been kept secret, with some agents only allowed to view it but not keep copies. The memo was marked for “All ICE Personnel” but was shown only to select officials who then verbally briefed others.
For years, legal experts advised people not to open doors to immigration agents without a judge-signed warrant, based on Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. The May 2025 policy memo contradicts that advice.
Constitutional Questions Pile Up in Court
Federal judges in multiple states have ruled against ICE enforcement tactics in recent months.
In Colorado, a federal judge ordered ICE to stop making warrantless arrests and to follow federal law requiring agents to determine if someone is a flight risk before detention. The November 25, 2025 ruling came after the ACLU argued that ICE routinely violated constitutional rights.
In Minnesota, federal court filings for wrongful detention lawsuits jumped from 128 in all of 2025 to 288 in just the first three weeks of January 2026. Politico reported that Minneapolis federal judges consistently ruled the Trump administration violated the law, sometimes “egregiously.”
A Minnesota federal judge threatened to hold ICE Acting Director Lyons in contempt for the agency’s failure to follow dozens of court orders. The ACLU filed class action lawsuits alleging racial profiling and Fourth Amendment violations.
Senator Richard Blumenthal called the administrative warrant policy “legally and morally abhorrent” after reviewing the whistleblower complaint. “Every American should be terrified by this secret ICE policy authorizing its agents to kick down your door and storm into your home,” he said.
Where Things Stand
Murad Awawdeh, president of the New York Immigration Coalition, released the surveillance footage from the Queens raid. “ICE is a rogue agency that is lawlessly terrorizing New Yorkers,” he said. “This mother of four was in her bedroom with her children when ICE violently knocked down her door.”
The coalition is calling for investigations. Civil rights groups continue to file lawsuits challenging enforcement tactics in cities across the country.
Jennifer, Rigoberto, and their four children remain in a hotel room, waiting. The agents said they would come back for Betancourt. The family doesn’t know when, or if, that will happen. They don’t know if they can ever go home.
Their children still ask about the right way to raise your hands when federal agents break into a Queens home searching for someone who isn’t there.
