This article was originally published by Truthout on June 29, 2026. It is shared here under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license.
My husband, Martin Soto, was abducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) this February when he left our home at night to buy diapers for our 11-month-old son.
Martin — who is a loving father, husband, son, church member, worker, and neighbor in the town of Kearny, New Jersey, where we live — was then jailed for four months at Delaney Hall, the ICE jail in Newark, New Jersey. Privately run by GEO Group, a for-profit prison company, Delaney Hall has quickly developed a reputation for medical neglect, rotten food, and abusive staff.
Then, in apparent retaliation for his participation in the hunger strike at Delaney Hall, and for my decision to speak out publicly about what he has experienced, he was transferred this May to Elizabeth Detention Center in Elizabeth, New Jersey, where he continues to be jailed.
When my husband arrived at Delaney Hall in February, he weighed 168 pounds. Now he weighs 117 pounds.
During the almost five months that Martin has wasted away in ICE custody, he has missed our daughter’s fourth birthday, our son’s first birthday, our wedding anniversary, his own 30th birthday, my birthday, Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day. ICE’s cruel decision has left me — pregnant with our third child on the way — suddenly forced to fend for our two young children and myself alone.
Martin has committed no harm. He is married to me, a U.S. citizen, and he has an asylum case pending for 2028. ICE has the power to release my husband right now via “discretionary release” and let him continue his immigration process outside of prison, caring for his children. But instead, ICE has continued to tear our family apart.
Martin’s Immigration Story
Martin came to this country in January 2024 with a purpose. He came here to raise his children. He came here to make a life with me, his long-time fiancée. We met when I was 19 years old back in our home country, Peru — I had traveled there for a family occasion. We started dating during that trip, but as a U.S. citizen I couldn’t just drop my life in the U.S. to go live in Peru. Nonetheless, I stayed several months in Peru in order to maintain a relationship with Martin. After a few months I had to return home, but we maintained a long-distance relationship, and every so often I would travel to Peru to be with him.
One time, after spending months in Peru with Martin, when I had to go back home to the U.S. I found out I was pregnant. I didn’t want to ruin Martin’s dreams, so at first, I kept it a secret. I went through my pregnancy alone when what I really wanted was to be with my partner. It was going to take a long time for Martin to succeed in coming, as we had so many obstacles along the way.
Months passed, and I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl who now is 4 years old. Martin soon found out the truth and wanted to come here for her first birthday, but it was not possible. He missed her first birthday, first steps, first words, first day of day care, and much more. Closer to the end of the year, I suggested to Martin that we come live in Peru to be together as a family, but Peru had become quite dangerous, which meant this wasn’t the best idea for our family.
So, in order to be with me and our daughter, Martin made the hardest decision of his life: He decided to cross the border, leaving his extended family and everything he knew. He walked hours and hours through a desert, and when he crossed into the U.S., he turned himself in to immigration officials.
He spent four months in detention and was moved to seven different immigration jails throughout the time. I wasn’t always available to go every weekend to his visiting hours but I definitely tried and went to all seven different locations. Each one of those “detention centers” seemed to be getting worse and worse.
When Martin was released and given a chance to process his asylum hearing with his family by his side, we were extremely happy. A month later, we got married. Soon after we found out we were expecting another baby, this time a baby boy. Our children are both U.S. citizens. Together we attended a church in Newark. We both had jobs, and together we did everything for our families. Then, one night, everything changed.
ICE Tears Our Family Apart
On February 1, 2026, after Martin stepped out to get diapers for our 11-month-old son, I suddenly got a phone call from a number listed as “prison/jail.” My heart dropped. When I answered, I was terrified about what had happened. As soon as the call ended, I raced over to Delaney Hall to get some answers. A guard there told me Martin was in “good hands” and once he was processed, he would be able to see me during visiting hours. I was relieved to hear he was safe, but when I started hearing about the conditions inside Delaney — rotten food, medical neglect, and more — I began to doubt the guard’s words.
ICE has the power to release my husband right now via “discretionary release” and let him continue his immigration process outside of prison, caring for his children. But instead, ICE has continued to tear our family apart.
I learned about the abuses firsthand. Martin told me that in May, all detainees in Unit 2 were fed food infested with worms, and when they refused to eat the worm-ridden food, the guards told them either eat or you will starve until the next day. There was no privacy in the units. Martin and the other men detained there were forced to shower in an open space with other people. Meanwhile, when Martin got sick, he would go three or four weeks without getting seen, much less treated.
Martin Faces Retaliation After I Organize a Rally
On May 22, 2026, I organized a rally outside Delaney Hall to demand freedom for everyone in immigration detention.
Two hours after the rally ended, Martin began to be targeted in apparent retaliation for my activism. Martin later told me that GEO Group staff and ICE agents called him down to the management office that day. Their first question was: “If we release you right now, will you tell your wife to stop the protest outside?” They asked: “Did you know your wife was organizing a protest outside?” They asked: “Did you start the strike inside?” To all of these questions, Martin told me he answered: “No comment,” and asked to go back to his cell. He told me they locked him in his cell for hours.
On May 23, 2026, when I tried to visit Martin during visitation hours, I was confronted by the staff. They brought every detainee with visitors downstairs for visitation — except for Martin. Not seeing my husband, I asked the guard why my husband wasn’t brought downstairs with the others. The guard replied that they wanted to speak with me first. I asked what they wanted to talk about. The guards claimed that I was spreading lies about GEO Group and attacked me for telling the press that they are feeding worms to people detained at Delaney.
In other words, because I had used my constitutionally protected freedom of speech to bring attention to the conditions inside Delaney, my husband was experiencing retaliation from the guards.
On May 24, 2026, around 3:30 pm (a half hour before visitation) I received a call from my husband. A few minutes into a normal conversation between the two of us on a recorded and monitored line, a guard said: “Release Martin Soto.” Martin was relieved, but I was confused. I knew there was something behind this because of the events of the previous two days. I found it suspicious and told people outside to keep an eye on any vans that might come out while I went inside Delaney with another volunteer. The volunteer and I went inside for visitation.
As I was standing outside the visitation chapel ramp, I witnessed with my own eyes the forced kidnapping and shackling of my husband by two GEO Group staff members. Those two GEO Group staff members were walking down the ramp with Martin when, suddenly, they glanced at each other and grabbed him by his ankles and wrists and threw him inside the van.
At that moment I tried to leave the facility, but GEO Group staff did not let me leave, refusing to unlock the revolving doors. I had to wait over 20 minutes before they let me leave the facility. As I, who was pregnant at the time, ran toward the front, multiple GEO Group staff members saw me crying, screaming, and running. They laughed at me. When I reached the front, where the van was stopped, I desperately pleaded for help to release my husband. Everyone was frantically calling their members of Congress, senators, the mayor of Newark, and anyone we could get on the line to demand that Martin be released, as promised. (They had made this promise on a recorded and monitored line.)
I believe this was all in retaliation for my decision to speak out and exercise my freedom of speech about what has been going on inside Delaney Hall.
Later that day, when Rep. Rob Menendez came by Delaney Hall, he stayed over 18 hours, trying to get inside to see Martin. ICE agents and GEO Group staff denied him entry. While Representative Menendez was waiting, ICE successfully plotted to get Martin out of Delaney — to transfer him. At 2:00 am, while everyone was distracted, ICE created a diversion with three ICE vehicles. They let them get searched and as protesters were closing the barricades, a vehicle — the last one in that group — stormed out. Martin was being held hostage in that vehicle.
The vehicle that transported Martin Soto at 2:00 am appeared to be an ICE agent’s personal vehicle: Martin later told me he could see that it had a baby seat in the back.
Since that day, May 25, 2026, Martin has been held at the Elizabeth Detention Center in New Jersey. His transfer appears to have been a retaliation for his participation in the Delaney Hall hunger strike, his demand to free them all, and his relation to me — a loved one who has been speaking out publicly.
I have been trying to get answers from ICE and GEO Group about my husband. For this op-ed, we asked them both about his treatment and his transfer. We have not gotten any responses.
Bring Martin Home!
Martin made the difficult decision to risk his life to cross a dangerous desert just to be reunited with his family. He faced horrific obstacles only to be taken into custody one evening for walking the streets in a country where it’s supposed to be safe for a father to buy diapers for his son.
Before ICE abducted him, Martin was living with his family by his side, working in a restaurant kitchen, going to church, caring for his children, being a good neighbor, and helping people whenever he could.
Martin and I believe he was detained that night because the ICE officer he encountered got frustrated with his language barrier, even after Martin mentioned he has an asylum case pending for 2028 while speaking slowly in English.
Like all the other immigrants who come to the U.S. in search of a better future, Martin traveled here with the hope of raising his daughter and son in a safe country and in a safe environment where their lives are not in jeopardy. He had experience in construction and landscaping and food preparation. Before ICE abducted him, Martin was living with his family by his side, working in a restaurant kitchen, going to church, caring for his children, being a good neighbor, and helping people whenever he could.
ICE could release Martin Soto now via discretionary release. I hope that everyone who reads this will join mein demanding that ICE release him immediately.
ICE could let Martin continue his immigration process outside a prison and without any conditions (no ankle monitor, bond, etc.), returning him to me and our children. He does not have to be in detention! He is a father, a role model, a church member, and a good neighbor, and he deserves freedom.
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