After a Helena man was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, some members of the Queen City are responding with a mix of shock and sympathy.
Others are less surprised.
“We’re horrified,” Valerie Hellermann, executive director of Hands On Global, said. “But I guess it was inevitable.”
Christopher Martinez, a 31-year-old Mexican citizen, was detained by ICE after a traffic stop with Helena police.
He entered the United States from Mexico in 2008 with his parents when he was around 14 years old, according to legal documents filed Tuesday with the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana.
Christopher Martinez with members of his family. Martinez was detained by ICE agents in Helena on July 1.
Courtesy of Maria Pacheco
His wife, Maria Pacheco, and their four children are all U.S. citizens, Pacheco told the Independent Record.