- A video of a man being arrested by ICE at Early Bird in West Omaha has raised alarm among local residents, prompting discussions about immigrant rights and the complexities of the naturalization process.
- The arrested individual, 26-year-old Romeo Yaxcal-Tiul, was reportedly undocumented and had prior immigration issues.
- Legal expert Roxana Cortes-Mills emphasized that the immigration process has become increasingly lengthy, and individuals facing such arrests should know their rights and consult an attorney before signing any documents.
Video of a man being arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at Early Bird in West Omaha has shocked many in the neighborhood. KMTV spoke to a neighbor who witnessed the arrest and an immigration attorney about what might happen next.
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Video footage shared with KMTV shows a man being handcuffed on the ground and escorted out of Early Bird. The arrest took place Sunday morning.
Reporter Hannah McIlree sat down with the patron who recorded the video of the arrest. He requested anonymity due to his status as a business owner.
"What inspired you in that moment to say, 'hey, I need to get this one video?'" McIlree asked.
"I don't know if it was the minority part of me that felt compelled to be a little bit more vocal, 'cause it is a fear of mine," he said. "What group is next?"
Witnessing the arrest affected him deeply. His parents immigrated from Taiwan to America in hopes of providing a better life for him and his siblings. He noted the difficulty of the naturalization process.
"It is a very tough process, and over the years, it’s taken longer and longer for people to do it the right way," he said. "I agree it has to be done the right way, but there has to be a better path for them to do it."
ICE officials said that agents observed an individual matching the description of a Guatemalan national with a final order of removal in Omaha.
According to ICE, they attempted to contact the subject, who then fled into the restaurant. That’s where they arrested 26-year-old Romeo Yaxcal Tiul, who has no legal status in the United States and was allegedly found working under a fraudulent name and Social Security number, with a prior immigration encounter in 2022 involving false documents.
McIlree spoke with Roxana Cortes-Mills, Legal Director at the Center for Immigrant and Refugee Advancement. She stated that immigration processes have become increasingly lengthy due to limited visa availability, high demand, and a significant backlog of individuals awaiting court hearings.
"The process is getting a lot longer than it has ever been, whether you are pursuing immigration relief through consular processing and waiting for an interview abroad, or going through the process here in the U.S.," Cortes-Mills said.
ICE agents were originally looking for Yaxcal-Tiul's brother. Cortes-Mills explained that this fact complicates the arrest. She noted that ICE performs two types of arrests: one with a warrant and one without. Since they were searching for Yaxcal-Tiul's brother, this arrest would fall under the second category.
"Our statute says that they have to have reason to believe that the person was undocumented," she said. "They also have to have reason to believe that if the arrest is not conducted in the moment, there is a high likelihood that the individual will leave as a flight risk," Cortes-Mills said.
KMTV asked Cortes-Mills if she thinks these arrests are going to become more common in Omaha.
"The [Trump] administration has been very clear about their desire to target individuals and one thing that we have seen throughout the the this the 1st 6 months of the administration is that they have really leaned on the the fear mongering or the making an example of individuals and so I do think that those public violent inhumane arrests are things that the administration is using to potentially deter individuals but but truly it's having an insane very very detrimental effect on our communities," Cortes-Mills said.
Cortes-Mills advised individuals facing immigration-related arrests to be aware of their constitutional rights and to consult an immigration attorney before signing any documents.
Yaxcal-Tiul was found to be in violation of U.S. immigration and criminal law and is being held in the Pottawatomie County jail.
