They were hiding in a freezer on top of meat pallets so immigration officers couldn鈥檛 see their feet.
听鈥淭hey thought they could hide in America鈥檚 heartland, but they were sadly mistaken. Not on our watch," an investigator said.
That's when four women detained in an Immigration Customs and Enforcement raid last month in Omaha say听they felt the temperature inside the freezers start dropping.听
The women, who were detained in , said they felt fans turn on and the air get colder as ICE agents waited on the other side of the freezer doors.听
The women's eventual exit from the freezer marked the beginning of a detainment that has continued for the past month in Nebraska.
They're among 13 detainees, all women, who spoke to The World-Herald of Omaha from the Lincoln County Detention Center in North Platte, where they're being held.听
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An interpreter with听, a North Platte organization that provides services to immigrants in the community, helped translate the interviews.
The accounts paint a picture of a traumatic stretch in which some detainees say they were taunted and misled by ICE agents 鈥 allegations that an ICE spokesperson strongly denies.听
One woman said the cold made it difficult to tell how long they were in the freezers at Glenn Valley, a meatpacking plant that ICE said it targeted as centered听on widespread identify theft.
The woman said it could have been several minutes, but it felt like an hour had passed before she heard an agent yell, 鈥淐ome out, or we鈥檒l send the dogs after you.鈥
Another woman said she was hiding in a freezer for 10 minutes. Yet another said she was in there for more than an hour and a half.
Some were able to walk out of the freezer to escape the cold. But one woman said the ones on top of the meat pallets were directly under the vents and became unable to move as the cold air blasted their faces.
She said agents eventually entered and physically removed them.听
The women, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity because of听their pending immigration court cases and fear of retaliation, are听mostly mothers in their 40s.

A group of women detained during the ICE raid at Omaha's Glenn Valley Foods stand together.
They described a "horrific" ordeal听during which they say they were pushed around, forcibly arrested, painfully shackled and mocked听by ICE agents who loaded them into a van without telling them where they were going.听
An ICE spokesperson said agents did not lower the freezer temperature in order to force the detainees out.听
"The illegal aliens who were detained following the听June 10听targeted enforcement action at Glenn Valley Foods were treated with the utmost respect and within what is required by听the听," Tanya Roman, an ICE spokesperson, told The World-Herald.听
The National Detention Standards outline requirements for the care, custody and treatment of immigration detainees to ensure they are treated humanely and able to access the rights to which they're entitled.
Two women said they are unsure how or why they got swept up in the raid. They said they have legal authorization to work in the U.S.听
鈥楾HEY JUST DIDN'T CARE鈥
The women said ICE agents burst in, shouting and shoving people听about 9:30 a.m. on a Tuesday, just as people on break were returning to relieve their co-workers.听 听
Some thought there was a fire until those on their way to the breakroom came running back, shouting, 鈥渋mmigration!鈥
One woman said the workers tried to explain to ICE agents that there was no need for the roughness 鈥 that they鈥檇 cooperate. But she said they insisted on grabbing and pushing people.
Two others said they witnessed a masked agent shove a听woman, causing a pregnant woman to fall into a breakroom chair.听
A young woman said she took out her phone to call her brother when a male ICE agent ripped the phone from her hand and started grabbing at her legs without warning, asking, 鈥淲hat else do you have on you?鈥
One woman said she notified the officers that she had a metal plate in her arm and had recently had surgery.
She said the officer proceeded to grab her by her injured arm, using it to drag her into the kitchen. She said ICE agents later refused her medical care and medication, saying, 鈥渨e鈥檙e not doctors.鈥 She said she鈥檚 still experiencing limited mobility and radiating pain.
鈥淭hey just didn鈥檛 care,鈥 a 43-year-old single mother said.
A 46-year-old mother said she was hiding behind a curtain when a dog found her.
One mother of three watched her co-workers run and hide. She said she wasn鈥檛 afraid at this point and didn鈥檛 run because she has a work permit authorizing her to work in the U.S.
She said some of her co-workers tried to leave through emergency exits, but .

Glenn Valley Foods, the site of an immigration raid that took place on June 10, 2025.
She said the fear didn鈥檛 set in for her until she realized the agents didn鈥檛 care that she had legal status. She said the agents told the people with valid documentation that they would be released but in some cases, that鈥檚 not what happened.
A second young woman who said she has a valid work visa said those with documentation were the first to be sectioned off, but they were treated just as poorly as the rest. She said the agents didn鈥檛 check her status before arresting her.

At least 63 of those detained in the Glenn Valley ICE raid were taken to the Lincoln County Detention Center in North Platte.
鈥淭o this day, I don鈥檛 understand why I鈥檓 being detained,鈥 she said.
Both women said they provided their valid identification to ICE agents. One said she also provided her Social Security card to the agents, but they were arrested anyway.
An ICE spokesperson said no legal permanent residents were taken into custody.
鈥淭he accusations being made by these unnamed detainees are completely false and frankly do nothing more than contribute to the misinformation and propaganda being pushed to the American public that is fueling misguided, on the hardworking and dedicated men and women of ICE during the course of their sworn duties," said Roman, an ICE spokesperson.听
鈥楾HIS ISN'T UNIVISION OR CNN鈥
According to Roman, 76 Glenn Valley Foods workers were taken from the plant. They were restrained with zip ties and听 that transported them to an ICE field office near Eppley Airfield.

The detained women interviewed said they received harsh treatment at the ICE facility. An ICE spokesperson said all 2025 National Detention Standards were followed.
The women interviewed said the harsh treatment听continued once they were taken to the .
For the nearly three days they were in ICE听custody, they were unable to shower, change clothes or access medication.
Roman, the ICE spokesperson, said the detainees were allowed a blanket and change of clothes upon request, despite the law not requiring it. She said the temporary detention facility doesn't have showers because they're not required听under the .
She also said all detainees were provided basic hygiene items, including soap, toilet paper, feminine hygiene items and sanitary wipes.听
A听43-year-old woman told The World-Herald听many of the detainees had headaches from the day鈥檚 events and asked for water and Tylenol. She said they were denied painkillers, and agents laughed as they threw water bottles at them.听
Another woman in her late 20s said some of the women required menstrual products, which the agents also threw at them while mocking them.
An ICE spokesperson denied this, saying supplies may have been tossed听to听them, but nothing was thrown听at the detainees.
The women also said some of the agents were professional.
The mother of three said an ICE agent intervened when another agent was harassing her. Another woman said an agent processed her without incident and told her she had the right to call three people.

The women also said some of the agents were professional. A mother of three said an ICE agent intervened when another agent was harassing her. Another woman said an agent processed her without incident and told her she had the right to call three people.
Two other women said they were allowed phone calls late at night.听
But a 43-year-old single mother said an agent got upset when she asked for a phone call, saying she had no 听because she鈥檚 a criminal.
Two other women said they were told that 鈥渢his isn鈥檛 Univision or CNN,鈥 and the rights those organizations talk about aren鈥檛 true.
鈥淭hey kept saying that we were immigrants and we didn鈥檛 deserve rights,鈥 a 46-year-old mother said. 鈥淏ut there鈥檚 a God that sees us all as one, and we should be treated as such.鈥
The Glenn Valley detainees described their experiences at a time when the Trump administration is carrying out an aggressive campaign of immigration enforcement in Nebraska and elsewhere.听
On Wednesday 鈥 a week after The World-Herald's interviews with the detainees 鈥 ICE said it had in the Omaha area who had been among the 100 most-wanted people in El Salvador.听
President Donald Trump has posted on social media about needing to make sure enforcement efforts don't harm the productivity of farmers, who often rely on labor from undocumented immigrants.听
But in response to a World-Herald question about the state of enforcement efforts in Nebraska and elsewhere, a White House spokeswoman said that Trump "remains committed to carrying out the largest mass deportation operation in history by removing dangerous, violent criminal illegal aliens from American communities and targeting the sanctuary cities that provide safe harbor to criminal aliens."听
A 听found that most people arrested in the Glenn Valley operation had no criminal history, and the ones who did had mostly minor traffic infractions and misdemeanors.
ICE officials have said everyone detained in the operation was using a to work. Of the 76 people detained, has been charged with crimes related to identity fraud.
'YOU MUST SIGN'
According to a from the , which provides legal services to many of the Omaha detainees, many of the Glenn Valley workers were held for days without being charged, and some signed their own self-deportation orders without the chance to speak to a lawyer.

A woman detained during the ICE raid at Glenn Valley Foods describes her experience after the raid at the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office and Detention Center in North Platte.
Veronica Cardenas,听who served for 13 years as former assistant chief counsel for ICE and is now in , told The World-Herald that detainees have the right to contact an attorney, but their getting in touch with ICE officials to get any information about their clients.
"Even though the person has the right to do that, it's very difficult for some people to exercise that right," she said.
Several women said agents presented documents in English, demanding they sign them despite not being able to read them.
Cardenas said it is common for agents to be forceful while conducting intakes because their goal is to get people to leave the country.
She said they're the many documents detainees are instructed to sign during processing, but the documents don't have to be written in any language other than English 鈥 the detainees often rely on ICE agents to interpret for them accurately.
The nature of the documents the detainees were instructed to sign is unclear. Cardenas said detainees are instructed to sign many documents as part of the intake process.
The mother of three whom听The World-Herald interviewed said an agent told her she鈥檇 face three to 10 years in jail if she didn鈥檛 sign.
She said they told her, 鈥測ou must sign this document.鈥 When she said she wanted to talk to a lawyer before signing, she said he told her she didn't have that right 鈥 that she鈥檇 been lied to about having any rights at all.
When she said she was here on a work permit and had legal status, they told her she鈥檇 be deported anyway, she said.
A mother in her early 40s said an agent presented her with a piece of paper and demanded she sign over custody of her kids.听
"He got really aggressive," she said.
She said he told her that if she didn鈥檛 sign, he would go to her house and pick up her children.听
A 46-year-old mom said agents pressed her for information and asked if she had children. When she said yes, she said they threatened to detain her 7-year-old daughter.听
A mother in her late 40s said an agent called her 鈥渁 disgrace鈥 when he discovered she had a son and asked if she had kids just to ruin this world.
An ICE spokesperson denied that agents threatened detainees or their children, citing a 听to protect parental interests.

A look inside a detention pod where 26 women detained by ICE from Omaha are being held at the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office and Detention Center.
The women said they were shackled in chains at the hands, waist and feet when it was time to leave the facility.
The mother of three said they were shackled so tightly that many of them couldn鈥檛 lift their legs to step onto the van, so the agents brought them a step stool. Even then, they had to help some people up into the van.
She said it was a very long difficult drive full of desperation and tears. The detainees .
A 45-year-old mother said the van was incredibly hot because there was no airflow. She said it wasn鈥檛 until people started yelling that they couldn鈥檛 breathe that the agents finally turned on the air.
鈥楾HE RAY OF SUNSHINE OF HOPE-ESPERANZA SHOWED UP鈥
At least 63 of those detained in the Glenn Valley ICE raid were taken to the Lincoln County Detention Center in North Platte.
The said the number听of Glenn听Valley detainees in their custody still fluctuates.

An interpreter from HOPE-Esperanza听comforts a woman who was detained during the ICE raid at Glenn Valley Foods.
Last week, they estimated that about 50 of the original group of detainees remained at the detention center. They said 14 had been released 鈥 three were released on bail,听and 11 were transferred back into ICE custody.
Two of the women said they had no idea where they were being taken until they arrived in North Platte听about 4 p.m. on a Thursday. The mother of three said they hadn鈥檛 had any food or water yet that day.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 when the ray of sunshine of HOPE-Esperanza showed up,鈥 the mother of three said.
HOPE-Esperanza has been helping the Glenn Valley detainees understand their options and communicate their needs with local officials.
鈥淲hen these people showed up, they hadn鈥檛 showered in three days,鈥 a HOPE-Esperanza interpreter said. 鈥淭hey had no idea where they were.鈥
The mother of three said听members of HOPE-Esperanza greeted them with beef jerky 鈥 a snack she鈥檚 usually not fond of but scarfed down gratefully nonetheless. She said the staff slowly gained their trust, and HOPE-Esperanza鈥檚 presence helped them feel safe enough to relax.
The women said the Lincoln County Sheriff鈥檚 Office staff have been kind and attentive to their needs, and they are very grateful to HOPE-Esperanza for helping them navigate their situation.
But while they're now being treated well, they said they are still heartbroken and want to go听home.
Photos: ICE raids Omaha meatpacking plant

Federal agents are seen near Glenn Valley Foods on J Street in Omaha on Tuesday, June 10, 2025.

Federal agents are seen near Glenn Valley Foods on J Street in Omaha on Tuesday, June 10, 2025.

Federal agents are seen near Glenn Valley Foods on J Street in Omaha on Tuesday, June 10, 2025.

Federal agents are seen near Glenn Valley Foods on J Street in Omaha on Tuesday, June 10, 2025.

Federal agents are seen near Glenn Valley Foods on J Street in Omaha on Tuesday, June 10, 2025.

Molli Surdell stands outside JBS after hearing reports of ICE raids. 鈥淚 am here to stand with this community and say they are important members of our nation, important members of our Omaha community and I care about them.鈥

Federal agents are seen near Glenn Valley Foods on J Street in Omaha on Tuesday, June 10, 2025.

Federal agents are seen near Glenn Valley Foods on J Street in Omaha on Tuesday, June 10, 2025.

Saul Lopez of the League of United Latin American Citizens asks a representative from the Douglas County Sheriffs Office for access into the plant. He is concerned workers have no translators and no non-government representatives.听