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The hourslong standoff ended when the man, a 29-year-old Guatemalan, surrendered to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in San Antonio.
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April 29, 2025, 10:56 p.m. ET
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in San Antonio arrested a man said to be an undocumented immigrant after a roughly eight-hour standoff that unfolded on Tuesday in a backyard where he tried to evade arrest by climbing a tree.
The man, who immigration officials identified as Raul Ical, a 29-year-old from Guatemala, attracted a large crowd of residents and journalists.
“You don’t have to sign anything,” yelled Jose Montoya, an activist with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, a local advocacy group, as Mr. Ical climbed down a ladder that federal agents had placed in the backyard.
When Mr. Ical surrendered, looking defeated, he was quickly handcuffed by agents.
Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, said the episode was part of the Trump administration’s efforts to combat illegal immigration.
“You can run, but you can’t hide,” she said in a statement. “Whether in a tree or harbored in an activist judge’s house, if you are here illegally, ICE will find you, arrest you and you will be deported.”
ICE said that deportation officers in San Antonio and state police tried to serve Mr. Ical what the agency described as a “criminal warrant” on Tuesday morning before he left his vehicle and fled on foot. He ran into a backyard and climbed a tree, where he remained for hours, the authorities said.
