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That's when four women detained in an Immigration Customs and Enforcement raid last month in Omaha sayĢżthey felt the temperature inside the freezers start dropping.Ģż

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.Ģż

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.Ģż

An interpreter withĢż, 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 ā€” allegations that an ICE spokesperson strongly denies.Ģż

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 centeredĢżon 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, ā€œCome out, or weā€™ll send the dogs after you.ā€

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.Ģż

The women, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity because ofĢżtheir pending immigration court cases and fear of retaliation, areĢżmostly mothers in their 40s.

They described a "horrific" ordealĢżduring which they say they were pushed around, forcibly arrested, painfully shackled and mockedĢżby ICE agents who loaded them into a van without telling them where they were going.Ģż

An ICE spokesperson said agents did not lower the freezer temperature in order to force the detainees out.Ģż

"The illegal aliens who were detained following theĢżJune 10^Ģżtargeted enforcement action at Glenn Valley Foods were treated with the utmost respect and within what is required byĢżtheĢż," Tanya Roman, an ICE spokesperson, told The World-Herald.Ģż

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.Ģż

ā€˜THEY JUST DIDN'T CAREā€™

The women said ICE agents burst in, shouting and shoving peopleĢżabout 9:30 a.m. on a Tuesday, just as people on break were returning to relieve their co-workers.Ģż Ģż

Some thought there was a fire until those on their way to the breakroom came running back, shouting, ā€œimmigration!ā€

One woman said the workers tried to explain to ICE agents that there was no need for the roughness ā€” that theyā€™d cooperate. But she said they insisted on grabbing and pushing people.

Two others said they witnessed a masked agent shove aĢżwoman, causing a pregnant woman to fall into a breakroom chair.Ģż

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, ā€œWhat else do you have on you?ā€

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, ā€œweā€™re not doctors.ā€ She said sheā€™s still experiencing limited mobility and radiating pain.

ā€œThey just didnā€™t care,ā€ 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 wasnā€™t afraid at this point and didnā€™t 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 .

She said the fear didnā€™t set in for her until she realized the agents didnā€™t 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, thatā€™s 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 didnā€™t check her status before arresting her.

ā€œTo this day, I donā€™t understand why Iā€™m being detained,ā€ 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.

ā€œThe 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.Ģż

ā€˜THIS ISN'T UNIVISION OR CNNā€™

According to Roman, 76 Glenn Valley Foods workers were taken from the plant. They were restrained with zip ties andĢż that transported them to an ICE field office near Eppley Airfield.

The women interviewed said the harsh treatmentĢżcontinued once they were taken to the .

For the nearly three days they were in ICEĢżcustody, 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 requiredĢżunder the .

She also said all detainees were provided basic hygiene items, including soap, toilet paper, feminine hygiene items and sanitary wipes.Ģż

AĢż43-year-old woman told The World-HeraldĢżmany of the detainees had headaches from the dayā€™s events and asked for water and Tylenol. She said they were denied painkillers, and agents laughed as they threw water bottles at them.Ģż

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 tossedĢżtoĢżthem, but nothing was thrownĢżat 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.

Two other women said they were allowed phone calls late at night.Ģż

But a 43-year-old single mother said an agent got upset when she asked for a phone call, saying she had no Ģżbecause sheā€™s a criminal.

Two other women said they were told that ā€œthis isnā€™t Univision or CNN,ā€ and the rights those organizations talk about arenā€™t true.

ā€œThey kept saying that we were immigrants and we didnā€™t deserve rights,ā€ a 46-year-old mother said. ā€œBut thereā€™s a God that sees us all as one, and we should be treated as such.ā€

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.Ģż

On Wednesday ā€” a week after The World-Herald's interviews with the detainees ā€” ICE said it had in the Omaha area who had been among the 100 most-wanted people in El Salvador.Ģż

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.Ģż

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."Ģż

A Ģżfound 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.

Veronica Cardenas,Ģżwho 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 ā€” 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 whomĢżThe World-Herald interviewed said an agent told her sheā€™d face three to 10 years in jail if she didnā€™t sign.

She said they told her, ā€œyou must sign this document.ā€ When she said she wanted to talk to a lawyer before signing, she said he told her she didn't have that right ā€” that sheā€™d 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 sheā€™d 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.Ģż

"He got really aggressive," she said.

She said he told her that if she didnā€™t sign, he would go to her house and pick up her children.Ģż

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.Ģż

A mother in her late 40s said an agent called her ā€œa disgraceā€ 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 Ģżto protect parental interests.

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 couldnā€™t 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 wasnā€™t until people started yelling that they couldnā€™t breathe that the agents finally turned on the air.

ā€˜THE RAY OF SUNSHINE OF HOPE-ESPERANZA SHOWED UPā€™

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 numberĢżof GlennĢżValley detainees in their custody still fluctuates.

Last week, they estimated that about 50 of the original group of detainees remained at the detention center. They said 14 had been released ā€” three were released on bail,Ģżand 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 PlatteĢżabout 4 p.m. on a Thursday. The mother of three said they hadnā€™t had any food or water yet that day.

ā€œThatā€™s when the ray of sunshine of HOPE-Esperanza showed up,ā€ the mother of three said.

HOPE-Esperanza has been helping the Glenn Valley detainees understand their options and communicate their needs with local officials.

ā€œWhen these people showed up, they hadnā€™t showered in three days,ā€ a HOPE-Esperanza interpreter said. ā€œThey had no idea where they were.ā€

The mother of three saidĢżmembers of HOPE-Esperanza greeted them with beef jerky ā€” a snack sheā€™s usually not fond of but scarfed down gratefully nonetheless. She said the staff slowly gained their trust, and HOPE-Esperanzaā€™s presence helped them feel safe enough to relax.

The women said the Lincoln County Sheriffā€™s 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 goĢżhome.