On February 5, an Oroville resident who wishes to remain anonymous reported to the local community via Oroville Rants & Raves Facebook group that she and her family were harassed and stopped by Immigration & Customs Enforcement, more commonly known as I.C.E., while leaving the Butte County courthouse located in Oroville, CA.
The source having been verified by the page’s moderator, Renee Artiste, vetted the anonymous individual’s claims as being credible after being directly contacted with the tip. Artiste, posted screenshots of the conversation explaining, “The reason this is up, is because it is of grave importance to this community.” Renee would also note in the post that she went against the community standards of her Facebook group to supply this information to group members.
The anonymous resident explained to the moderator that her husband was reported for a possible case of identity fraud by the clerk-employee servicing the whistleblower’s husband- who had only visited the judicial facility to pay for a minor traffic ticket.
After being racially profiled by the courthouse clerk a call resulted in I.C.E. agents detaining the couple and their two children just outside the courthouse for an extended period of time. During which, I.C.E. personnel harassed and refused to believe the victims’ citizenship status without further documentation.
Even going as far to use the children as leverage, insinuating that the validity of the children’s citizenship rested on if their father could prove he was legal. The anonymous victim confided in Renee that the family was, “questioned about my husbands and children legal status but not mine? I guess it’s because they are all brown and I’m white, they got very confrontational when I told them we are citizens.”
This is a shocking realization that the children of Butte County are now targets to be separated from their parents, families, and schools. Once labeled as an unaccompanied minor, I.C.E. has been repeatedly found to traffic these young children across state lines to detention facilities built around the country. Such as the Dilley, Texas Detention Center where over half of the detained population at the facility are unaccompanied minor children, as reported by MPR News on February 11, 2026.
Our family in Oroville, CA was ultimately released by I.C.E. and avoided detainment unscathed and eager to return to their home together as a family. But this has left a lasting impression on the safety and transparency of Oroville’s cooperation and partnership with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
