Ramón Barraza, a 60-year-old tile installer in Phoenix, Arizona, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in January 2026. His white Nissan pickup, left on a street in west Phoenix, contained a tile saw, boxes of ceramic tile, and an open bag of adhesive in the trunk. Barraza had been working on a house near 119th Avenue, laying marble tiles, and had spent two decades installing ceramic tile floors in Phoenix. On the morning of his detention, he noticed a white Chevrolet Tahoe with dark windows following him. The SUV stopped him near 67th Avenue and McDowell Road, where he was arrested by ICE agents who identified themselves as such. They took him to the Central Avenue office in Phoenix, a building ICE describes as a processing facility rather than a detention center. The building at 2035 N. Central Ave., located north of McDowell Road, has been used as a holding facility for immigrants since 2025, according to internal ICE records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. While ICE maintains that the site is not a detention center, records show that from January 1, 2025, through March 10, 2026, ICE held 9,276 people at the Central Avenue office. The spaces where people are held are called “hold rooms” in ICE detention standards, with temporary cells designed for stays of no more than 12 hours, except under a 2025 waiver that extended the limit to 72 hours. However, at least 423 cases exceeded 72 hours during the period analyzed. A federal judge struck down the waiver in June 2026, finding it arbitrary and capricious. Barraza spent 26 hours in the cells at the Central Avenue office, where he described conditions including a lack of beds, limited food, and no access to medical care. He was given one frozen bean burrito every six hours, no water, and had to share a cell with up to 25 people. He was eventually released after signing a voluntary departure form, which he believed would allow him to return to the United States legally in the future. ICE agents told him they would prepare the paperwork and advised him to consider voluntary departure to avoid prolonged detention. Barraza’s case is similar to that of Luis Silas, another Mexican migrant detained at the same facility. Silas was arrested in February 2026 and spent over 70 hours in custody before being deported. His son, Isaac Luis-Azamar, was arrested for intervening to protect his father during the arrest, and remained in ICE custody as of publication. Silas was given one burrito every six hours and was allowed to shower once during his detention. ICE maintains that detainees receive clean water, appropriate bedding, and three meals a day, but accounts from detainees contradict this. Mexico’s consul for protection and legal affairs in Phoenix, María Fernanda Arreguín Gámez, confirmed that detainees received only one burrito per meal, which met basic nutrition standards according to ICE. However, she noted that the consulate had to push for basic necessities like water and hygiene items for those held longer than 72 hours. Barraza was released on Jan. 6, 2026, and transported to Nogales, Sonora, where he was given a sandwich and water. He stayed at a shelter in Nogales for a week before traveling to his hometown of Quilá, Sinaloa. His girlfriend, Yesenia, followed him to Mexico in March 2026 after a positive pregnancy test, and the couple plans to live together in Mexico. Barraza remains in contact with his former clients in Phoenix and continues to pay for his Arizona phone line. ICE’s use of the Central Avenue office as a holding facility has raised concerns about the treatment of detainees and the lack of transparency surrounding its operations. The building’s classification as an administrative office rather than a detention center has limited public scrutiny. The shift in ICE’s detention policies, including the increase in voluntary departures and the use of processing facilities like the Central Avenue office, has been linked to changes in immigration enforcement under the Trump administration.