Valley father detained by ICE while driving to work sparks protest for release
Around 100 people gathered in central Phoenix on June 8, 2025, at an event organized by the Phoenix chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation to call for the release of Joel Gutierrez, an undocumented man taken by ICE agents last week, and to protest Trump's immigration policies. Photo by Emily Holshouser | Arizona Mirror
In the early hours of June 4, 48-year-old Joel Gutierrez was driving his coworker to a home they were renovating in Phoenix when their work van was stopped by U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement officers.
Agents pulled Gutierrez and his coworker out of the van and arrested them. ICE agents scattered Neatly stacked papers and a packed lunchbox throughout the car.
Gutierrez was taken to the Central Arizona Florence Detention Center, where he remains today. His coworker was arrested, too. Both men are undocumented.
On June 8, around 100 people gathered at University Park on Van Buren Street just west of downtown Phoenix at an event organized by the Phoenix chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation to call for Gutierrez's release and protest the Trump administration's sweeping and aggressive immigration policies.
'My dad is honestly the best person there is,' Gutierrez's daughter, Denise, 19, told the crowd. 'He is the sweetest, most understanding person, and he truly does not deserve to be where he is right now.'
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Gutierrez's detention comes at a time when the Trump administration has ordered ICE to boost deportation numbers by focusing their efforts on largely law-abiding immigrants, which has spurred a slew of workplace raids and targeting people seeking relief in immigration courts.
During his campaign, President Trump promised to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, calling it the 'largest domestic deportation operation in American history.'
The administration's plans have ramped up throughout the year, with a new plan taking shape in recent weeks to deport 'the worst first' in the first 100 days of the Trump administration.
Since January, according to federal data, ICE has arrested over 26,000 people. The agency says 995 of those arrests have taken place in Phoenix.
Across the country, ICE has carried out raids at workplaces and immigration courts. On June 7, a workplace raid at a Home Depot in the working-class Los Angeles enclave of Paramount set off a weekend of intense and chaotic protests. Trump has since seized operational control of the California National Guard and deployed 4,000 soldiers to the city, as well as several hundred U.S. Marines.
Denise said that her father believes he was profiled because of his work van. Joel told his family later that he noticed ICE officers following him before he was stopped.
'He has one of those big white vans that you see everywhere, and they simply stopped him because they saw the van,' Denise said at the protest. 'They assumed that there's probably someone in there who doesn't have legal status.'
Gutierrez unsuccessfully attempted to earn citizenship several times, but remained in the country with his family, Denise said.
Joel came to the United States from Mexico with Denise's mother in 2000, when they were in their early 20s. They settled in Mesa to start a life.
Joel and his wife had four children — two immigrated from Mexico, but two were born here and are United States citizens. Their youngest is a nine-year-old boy.
'My nine-year-old little brother and my dad are very close, because that's his only boy,' Denise said. 'They play soccer almost every day, and right now, this is a situation that we never thought we would have to live in.'
The crowd marched from the park to the Arizona Capitol building, Phoenix Police Department cars and motorcycles lurking around every corner. The group eventually arrived back at the park.
'I'm just sick and tired of seeing my people be taken away for no reason,' said Marilyn Ramos, 24, as she marched with the crowd. 'I feel like, if they're really criminals, why are they going after people out at the workplace? … It's giving Hitler, and I don't like that.'
As these raids ramp up in other cities including Miami, Chicago, and New York, local advocacy groups are concerned that Phoenix could be next.
On Monday, several local groups announced that ICE raids were planned in Phoenix throughout the week, and warned immigrant communities to be on alert.
'Community organizations have received credible information that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) may be conducting mass workplace raids in the Phoenix area this week,' Puente Arizona said in a written statement. 'Particularly targeting businesses that have previously been audited for employing undocumented workers.'
In January, Trump signed an executive order that greatly expanded the expedited removal process, reviving a 2019 program that fast-tracked deportations for immigrants, oftentimes without any due process.
In late May, ICE agents detained more than a dozen people outside the Phoenix immigration court across two days as part of the Trump administration's crackdown.
Denise said on Sunday that Joel is being held in an overcrowded facility with poor treatment and little food.
'They're moving my dad to a different part of the facility because of how insanely crowded it is,' Denise told the Mirror on June 9. 'They don't get any time outside. It's really terrible, and that's what makes it really hard on my dad.'
There is no publicly available data on the Florence facility's capacity and current population. A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not answer emailed questions.
Several of the rally-goers spoke about their personal experiences with immigration and expressed deep concern that Phoenix could be targeted.
'This system is barbaric, yet it is exactly how it's designed,' said Dania Duran, an organizer with PSL. 'Both Republicans and Democrats have demonized immigrants as a tool to incite fear in people and a tool to make themselves richer.'
A GoFundMe for the family has raised over $5,000, which will go towards legal fees and paying bills that Joel was primarily responsible for.
'My sisters and I have been doing everything possible to kind of get our story out there, because this really is terrible, and it's not just happening to our family,' Denise said. 'It's happening all over the United States right now, to multiple families, people with different stories than ours.'
Phoenix-area immigration advocacy groups were advising community members on Tuesday to avoid areas that may be targeted for deportations and to know their legal rights.
'We are asking people at risk of deportation to stay away from places where confirmed raids are happening and other high risk areas if they can,' said Casey Clowes, a spokesperson for the nonprofit advocacy group Progress Arizona in a written statement. 'We are calling on allies to report ICE activity to the Phoenix Hotline by calling or texting (480) 506-7437 and get trained in Migra Watch so you can safely and peacefully bear witness and document ICE's actions.'
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