Immigrant’s Wife Recalls How ICE Arrested Him

“Oh my God!”: Immigrant’s Wife Recounts How ICE Arrested Him
“It’s ICE”: This Was the Arrest in Washington
Jimmy Ayala’s wife shares how it happened

An arrest in real time

Shirley Hurtado, partner of Jimmy Anderson Ayala Mayuri, described how she experienced her husband’s arrest by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents while they were speaking on the phone.

She told Noticias Telemundo that the arrest took place at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., while Ayala was operating his food truck.

“Negra, it’s ICE, it’s ICE,” she recalls her husband shouting in the middle of the call. Hurtado said Jimmy described how one officer positioned himself behind him and another cut him off from the front.

“Oh my God!”: Immigrant’s Wife Recounts How ICE Arrested Him

🗣️ “Oh my God!”: Immigrant’s wife recounts how ICE arrested him while she was on the phone. https://t.co/BU5ycfVYQS

— Noticias Telemundo (@TelemundoNews) August 14, 2025

“No, Jimmy, I told him. Oh my God…,” she recalled.

Over the phone, she could hear her husband pleading “please, no” to the agents, who spoke in English, though she could not understand the rest.

Jimmy Ayala’s arrest, captured on Noticias Telemundo cameras, coincided with the deployment of federal forces in the capital ordered by President Donald Trump.

This was part of an offensive against crime and irregular immigration.

ICE’s official version

🚨JUST IN🚨

An illegal alien from Peru, was apprehended in Washington, DC, after federal officers stopped him while he was operating his food truck on Wednesday.

According to ICE, Jimmy Anderson Ayala Mayuri briefly barricaded himself inside the truck and indicated he might… pic.twitter.com/rxFULV2p0L

— Breanna Morello (@BreannaMorello) August 14, 2025

Shortly after the arrest, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) released a statement saying that Jimmy Ayala Mayuri, a Peruvian national with irregular immigration status, displayed a butcher knife and threatened to harm himself when intercepted by agents.

According to the agency, the man briefly barricaded himself inside the vehicle before being taken into custody without injuries.

ICE stated that the arrest occurred on property administered by the National Park Service and that the detainee will remain in custody until a decision is made regarding his removal.

The agency shared a message on social media celebrating the arrest as part of the “cleanup” of the capital.

Context of a city under federal control

Ayala Mayuri’s case comes amid heightened security in Washington, D.C., which includes National Guard patrols, control of the Metropolitan Police Department by the Department of Justice, and an increase in immigration enforcement operations.

The Trump administration has linked these measures to its mass deportation policy, arguing they aim to reduce crime.

However, these operations have drawn criticism from local authorities and community organizations, who denounce a climate of fear in immigrant communities.

For Shirley Hurtado, the moment she lived through on the phone with her husband was a traumatic experience: “I could only hear his voice asking them not to arrest him… and I couldn’t do anything.”

ALSO OF INTEREST: Man Dies After Being Struck by Car Following ICE Raid at Home Depot