Immigration attorneys say they’re seeing a growing number of green card holders detained for past criminal convictions, some for cases that are years old.

In May, Octavio Carreon Mota got a text from a strange number with an opportunity for work in Enid trimming trees.

Mota, a 27-year-old father with plans to get married, was eager to earn some extra money. He ran a side business doing day labor and routinely traveled to Enid from his home in Stillwater for jobs. Mota exchanged texts over the next several days with a man who said his name was Samual Davis and that he owned several rental properties in Enid.

“Can we meet at 10 o’clock at Oncue. 1005 E.Garriott. I have a grey Ford F150. I usually park in the back so the guys can get a break in,” the man said in one message.

When Mota arrived at the gas station, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents placed him under arrest.

Mota’s fiancee, Michelle Brooks, heard a knock on the door at the couple’s home in Stillwater that morning. Waiting on the other side was Mota’s father and his little sister. They told her Mota had been arrested. In a hurry, they left to try and track him down an hour’s drive away in Garfield County. The next day, they learned he was being held at the Tulsa County jail.

“I just had a panic attack and started crying,” Brooks said.

Mota immigrated to the United States from Mexico with his family when he was two years old. He is a legal permanent U.S. resident with a 10-year green card. But under the Trump Administration, federal immigration authorities are arresting more legal permanent residents for past criminal convictions, sometimes for cases that were resolved years earlier.

Mota was convicted on a misdemeanor charge of entering a building with unlawful intent in 2018. He was accused of breaking into a house while a friend was engaged in a dispute with a former roommate, according to court records. The same year, he also pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of possession of drug paraphernalia and transporting an open container. Also in 2018, Mota was convicted of misdemeanor reckless conduct with a firearm and carrying a firearm while under the influence after Mota accidentally discharged a gun in Brooks’ apartment. He admitted he was drunk when police arrived to investigate, according to court records.

Mota also received two citations for possession of marijuana in 2023.

The Frontier spoke with four immigration attorneys in Oklahoma who said they’ve seen an increase in the number of legal permanent residents detained for past convictions that they often believed were behind them. And some local police departments are assisting with the arrests. As of July 3, 777 law enforcement agencies have signed 287(g) agreements with ICE, allowing them to engage in varying levels of immigration enforcement. According to data published by ICE, 17 law enforcement agencies in Oklahoma have signed 287(g) agreements, 14 of which were signed in 2025.

Enid police officers helped locate Mota before his arrest by immigration authorities, the agency confirmed.

Cass Rains, a spokesperson for Enid police, couldn’t provide specific information about Mota’s arrest but said the agency typically assists federal agents by providing manpower and access to records. The Enid Police Department does not have a 287(g) agreement with ICE.

When The Frontier called the phone number that contacted Mota and asked for Davis, a male voice said it was the wrong number and ended the call.

It’s legal for immigration authorities to use ruses to arrest immigrants. Ruses used by ICE can vary from rudimentary tactics such as carrying a clipboard or creating fake business cards to texting individuals to meet with officials to provide documents.

“They can trap him any way they want to,” said Vance Winningham, an immigration attorney in Oklahoma City.

“A lot of people tell me ‘I go to work, I go to church and I go home, those are the three places I go,’” Hernandez said.

Mota’s previous convictions have long put him at risk for deportation, but the Trump Administration has ramped up enforcement.

“During the Biden administration, legal permanent residents were being detained and being deported, but I think they were focusing more on violent criminals,” said Lorena Rivas, an immigration attorney in Tulsa. “As opposed to the Trump administration, it’s unbiased, it’s anybody and everybody.”

There were 56,397 individuals in ICE detention as of June 20, and 15,964 of them had been convicted of crimes, according to federal data.

Brooks and Mota first became friends in high school.

Mota eventually won her over “because he was so polite and so nice and respectful,” she said.

In August 2024, Brooks and Mota moved from Enid to Stillwater so Brooks could finish her entrepreneurship degree at Oklahoma State University. The couple share a two-year-old son.

Brooks describes the couple’s dreams for a life together as “simple and simplistic.” After seven years of engagement, they planned to get married after she finished her degree, Brooks said. She graduated in May, less than two weeks before Mota was arrested.

Mota is now in ICE custody at the BlueBonnet Detention Center in Anson, Texas. He’s waiting for a hearing in immigration court on whether he will be deported.

Brooks said it feels like she’s become a single mother. While in school, Mota was the sole provider, taking care of expenses, so Brooks could focus on school and childcare, she said. Since his detainment, she has fallen behind on bills.

“He’s served his time already and hasn’t gotten in trouble with the law since,” Brooks said. “He settled down. He has a son. All he does is work and come home.”