ICE is detaining people during Fresno green card office appointments, attorneys say
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- ICE detained green card applicants at the USCIS office in Fresno in 2025.
- Attorneys say past arrests and unclear entry records triggered detentions.
- Immigration climate shifts spark fear, discourage interview attendance.
ICE agents have recently detained individuals applying for green cards at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office in downtown Fresno, according to local immigration attorneys.
Until recently, attorneys said it was rare for people to be detained during routine green card appointments at the USCIS office.
USCIS is a federal agency under the Department of Homeland Security that oversees lawful immigration to the United States and processes applications for citizenship, permanent residency, asylum, work permits and other immigration benefits.
Jeremy Clason, an immigration attorney in Fresno, said a client of his who is married to a U.S. citizen was detained during his green card interview in July at the USCIS office in Fresno.
“From 2005 up until when this particular client was detained, I had only had one other client ever detained at a USCIS office in 20 years of practice,” he said.
It’s unclear how many people, exactly, have been detained by ICE agents at the Fresno USCIS office, and whether federal officers are targeting green card applicants with prior arrests. But immigration attorneys said the recent detainments may deter some people from applying for a green card.
Clason said he suspects USCIS coordinated with ICE agents to detain his client, because his client’s wife was asked to remain in the lobby during the green card interview.
“This interview was very strange. I could tell from the beginning that the officer didn’t really want to ask the questions that she needed to ask him to determine whether he was eligible to become a green card holder,” Clason said.
Clason said that the ICE agents didn’t provide a reason for detaining his client, though he suspects his client’s past criminal history was a factor.
“He was never convicted for any criminal offenses. They detained him purely on arrests that didn’t result in convictions,” he said. “They didn’t even give him a chance to explain the details of those two arrests.”
Clason said his client was sent to a McFarland detention facility in late July, and immediately filed a request for a bond hearing. An immigration court judge ultimately granted his client’s release on a $10,000 bond in August.
Clason said his client was likely able to secure release on bond because he entered the country legally on a student visa, is married to a U.S. citizen and thus has a legal path to remain in the U.S., and has never been convicted of any crimes.
ICE agents also detained another man in July during a scheduled appointment at the Fresno USCIS office.
Fresno attorney George Rios said his client arrived at his green card interview with his wife, a U.S. citizen, but she was asked to step into the waiting area before ICE agents arrived and detained him.
“The position that ICE has officially taken regarding his detention is that they believe he entered the country unlawfully,” Rios said. “I believe the real reason they detained him is because of his criminal history. In my opinion, he is eligible for his green card because of the way he entered. He was a child, driven across the border at the age of four, and presented himself to immigration officials, which counts as a legal entry.”
Rios’s client is currently detained at a detention facility in McFarland.
Rios said he will need to prove several requirements at a hearing this month to give his client a chance to stay in the country. He said his client has been in the U.S. for at least 10 years, maintained good moral character during that time, and has no criminal convictions.
Rios said his client’s deportation would cause extreme hardship on his wife, a U.S. citizen, and children, the youngest of whom is less than a year old.
Clason, the Fresno attorney, said that, given the Trump administration’s deportation crackdown, other people who have filed for their green cards may risk detainment at USCIS appointments.
Clason said a recent immigration decision, known as Matter of Yajure Hurtado, which holds that anyone who entered the U.S. unlawfully — regardless of how long ago — is subject to mandatory detention with no bond, will mean many people will face their cases while detained.
“Many more immigrants are going to be detained at the Fresno field office,” he said. “I think what’s discouraging from my perspective, the people being detained right now, filed applications last year, relying on USCIS’s policies last year.”
Whenever clients get interviews for their green cards now, Clason explains to them the risks and in some cases recommends that they wait to get their green cards until the Trump administration is out of office.
“Clients are becoming more apprehensive of attending interviews or filing in the first place because the chances of them getting detained are now much higher,” Clason said.
This story was originally published October 3, 2025 at 1:22 PM.
