The arrest of Martin Anguiano, a 63-year-old Seaside restaurant proprietor and long-standing resident of Clatsop County, has sparked urgent appeals from his family and community members who are advocating for his release from federal immigration custody. Anguiano was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during a routine errand on September 10, leaving his relatives and local patrons grappling with the sudden disruption of a decades-long presence in the coastal town.
Federal agents approached and detained Anguiano at a local Safeway supermarket in Seaside as he was purchasing supplies for the Guadalajara Taco Shop. The dining establishment has been operated by Anguiano and his family for 23 years, serving as a familiar fixture within the local commercial landscape. The unexpected operation also included the apprehension of a second individual in Seaside, Gustavo Barrera Reyes, whom federal officials identified as having entered the country without authorization in 2014 and who is currently subject to removal proceedings.
Department of Homeland Security officials stated that the federal action against Anguiano stemmed from a historical conviction dating back more than three decades. According to a DHS spokesperson, Anguiano was arrested in 1993 on charges related to the possession of a controlled substance, after which an immigration judge ordered his deportation. Although he was expelled from the country following that legal judgment, he subsequently re-entered the United States, prompting the current enforcement measure.
The spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security reiterated the agency's strict stance in an email response to inquiries from radio station KMUN, emphasizing that immigration laws would be rigorously upheld under the direction of President Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin. The agency declared that individuals who break the law will face mandatory consequences, affirming an active policy to identify, arrest, and deport undocumented noncitizens with past criminal records.
Anguiano’s family has openly acknowledged his undocumented status and does not contest the reality of the 1993 arrest. However, they clarified that he had been swept into a situation where illicit substances were present rather than actively selling or sourcing them. Furthermore, relatives underscored that he has maintained an unblemished record throughout the ensuing decades, never facing additional legal infractions since that isolated incident in the early 1990s.
In contesting his ongoing detention, the family has raised significant questions regarding the procedural validity of the 1994 warrant that ICE agents utilized to justify his arrest. They maintain that Anguiano has conducted his affairs as a model community member for over two decades, paying his regular taxes, providing consistent financial support for his household, and running his Seaside business in full compliance with municipal and state commercial regulations.
The enforcement action sent shockwaves through the local business community, where Anguiano had built enduring professional and personal relationships. Steve Haugen, the proprietor of Universal Video and the landlord of the commercial property that has housed Guadalajara Taco Shop since the early 2000s, voiced deep surprise at the development. Haugen characterized Anguiano as an exceptionally industrious worker and noted that he was the last person anyone in the area would have envisioned being targeted by federal law enforcement.
Speaking to KMUN, Anguiano’s wife, Michelle Anguiano, expressed profound distress over the arrest and cautioned other residents, particularly people of color within the community, to exercise vigilance. She remarked on the widespread familiarity her husband enjoyed across the municipality, noting that he was well-acquainted with local residents and was widely respected for his kindness, hard work, and devotion as a father of five and grandfather of three.
Anguiano is currently being detained across state lines at the Northwest ICE Processing Center located in Tacoma, Washington. His confinement comes amid renewed scrutiny of the Tacoma facility, which was recently highlighted in reports by The Seattle Times detailing persistent complaints from detainees regarding substandard conditions, including unsanitary environments and the provision of spoiled food.
Michelle Anguiano reported that during their telephone conversations from the detention center, her husband sounded visibly worn and distressed. She lamented that a 63-year-old family patriarch with extensive community ties was being held in an institutional setting that she likened to an animal pound, isolated from the children and grandchildren who rely on his presence and care.
The systemic barriers to resolving his legal status were detailed by Anguiano’s eldest son, Christopher Anguiano, who explained that his father had made previous attempts to secure formal immigration documents. Those efforts were eventually abandoned after meeting repetitive bureaucratic hurdles, costly dead ends, and continuous administrative obstacles that routinely deter undocumented individuals from obtaining legal residency or citizenship within the existing framework.
Christopher Anguiano reflected on the escalating anxiety his household has endured over the past year and a half as federal authorities pursued a substantially more aggressive enforcement agenda. While acknowledging that the family had long dreaded the theoretical possibility of detention, he noted that the sudden reality of familial separation has proven deeply devastating, turning what had once been unspoken fears into an immediate crisis.
In response to the detention, the Anguiano family has initiated an extensive public outreach effort to build support and secure legal intervention. Family members have utilized social media to urge local constituents to petition Oregon federal lawmakers, specifically U.S. Senator Ron Wyden and U.S. Representative Suzanne Bonamici, to examine the case. Concurrently, an online fundraising drive launched on GoFundMe by Anguiano’s daughter, Celine, has collected more than $14,000 to assist with mounting legal expenditures and household expenses.
The arrest on September 10 represents the latest high-profile federal immigration action in Clatsop County following the apprehension of at least two individuals by ICE agents in June. Among those detained earlier in the summer was Gerardo Chavez Lopez, another long-term resident and local business owner. Those earlier arrests drew considerable public scrutiny and protest after federal agents utilized property managed by the Port of Astoria to transfer detainees between enforcement vehicles.
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