FAIRFIELD, Ohio — Video of a traffic stop in Fairfield that led to a woman being taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is raising questions about local law enforcement practices when aiding immigration enforcement.
Marlen Ortiz-Soto, 24, and her boyfriend, Daniel Flores, were driving from Indiana back to Ortiz-Soto's home in Ohio when Fairfield police stopped them near Route 4 for an alleged traffic violation, said Krishna Mahadevan, Ortiz-Soto's attorney.
In a two-minute video shared with WCPO, Flores repeatedly asks an officer for his badge number and to identify himself, and the officer refuses, saying he already gave it to Flores.
A few seconds later, a second officer begins to explain "the situation" to Ortiz-Soto and Flores, while Flores repeatedly asks him to identify himself. The second officer continues without acknowledging Flores' questions.
"So, currently, the situation is that we have prioritized that you are here illegally ... so right now you need to get out of the vehicle," the officer says to Ortiz-Soto.
The officer later says, "You need to get out of the vehicle, otherwise we're going to have to make you move out of the vehicle."
You can watch the full raw video of the traffic stop below:
Eventually, officers open the passenger door and begin pulling Ortiz-Soto out as Flores protests.
"Why are you guys taking her out like that?" Flores asks. "You can't touch her, man."
An officer then attempts to grab Flores' phone out of his hands, before another officer, who appears to be wearing a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms vest, says, "You can go to jail too."
It appears an officer is taking Flores into custody as the video ends.
"She is extremely scared in this video. She doesn't know what's happening. She's not being told what's happening," Mahadevan said.
Following the traffic stop, Ortiz-Soto was arrested by officers and handed over to ICE agents.
"They took her back to their vehicle and drove her to a local U.S. Bank parking lot where they handed her to actual ICE agents," Mahadevan said.
Mahadevan said his client has an ongoing asylum claim from 2019. Ortiz-Soto is from Honduras and fears returning to that country due to previous violence. Mahadevan said he could not discuss the details of her case.
We asked Mahadevan about the officers allegedly handing Ortiz-Soto to ICE agents in a commercial business's parking lot. He said this isn't a part of any normal procedure he's seen.
“There is no real precedent for ICE taking or picking up people at random locations or being handed off people from another agency to them at a random location," Mahadevan said. "At least in the past, that’s not been a thing. Generally, if ICE decides to arrest someone, they do it themselves and take them directly to the ICE office. But this administration has deputized many other different agencies to do immigration enforcement.”
WATCH: More from Ortiz-Soto's attorney and what we know about the case below:
The attorney said Ortiz-Soto was following all immigration requirements and regularly attended ICE check-ins. Neither she nor her boyfriend knew why they were initially stopped, the attorney said.
Ortiz-Soto is now being held at the Butler County Jail awaiting a bond hearing.
"They should keep in mind that this is a young woman who has found some success and happiness in the United States. She's started her own business, she's hopefully found love in the United States, with her boyfriend," Mahadevan said.
WCPO reached out in multiple ways to Fairfield Police for comment, but we have not received a response.
