U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents appear to have detained workers at the Tres Dimensiones Ropa Usada on Thursday morning. 

ICE agents arrived at the facility, located at 7901 S. 23rd St. in McAllen, about 10 a.m., according to eye witnesses. 

Some employees were put on a bus as families of the detained, along with members of La Union Del Pueblo Entero and other onlookers gathered outside. They were still present as of 3 p.m.

Texas Department of Public Safety troopers stood guard as ICE carried out enforcement efforts inside. 

UPDATE 3:50 P.M.

ICE confirmed the raid via a statement. 

“ICE Homeland Security Investigations is the lead investigative agency in today’s enforcement action,” the statement said, noting that HSI was being assisted by several federal, state and local partners located in the region. “No additional details are being released at this time; the criminal investigation remains ongoing.”

Hidalgo County Judge Richard F. Cortez weighed in on the issue.

“It is obvious by the number of people that are working here illegally that our American businesses need those types of workers,” Cortez said. “If the problem [is that they are illegal]… then the solution is very simple. Have congress make an easier path to make them legal. Why congress won’t do that and address a problem, I don’t know.”

UPDATE 4:15 P.M.

Rosa Maria “Rosy” Villarreal owns and operates Tres Dimensiones Ropa Usada, which has been in McAllen for roughly 27 years, according to a McAllen Chamber of Commerce feature on the businesswoman in October 2015.

Villarreal grew up as the oldest of seven siblings at Casa Hogar Mama Paulita, a foster home in Mante, Tamaulipas, Mexico. 

She and her family run the 70,000-square-foot warehouse, processing used clothing and housewares while recycling materials wherever possible. In 2015, the business reportedly sent about 126,000 pounds of clothing to recycle each week. 

The Chamber credited Villarreal with giving back to the community, specifically the foster home where she grew up, through annual toy and clothing drives.

UPDATE: 4:30 P.M.

A bus that was inside the Tres Dimensiones Ropa Usada warehouse in McAllen drives off, presumably with workers inside, as family members and members of LUPE, a pro-immigrant nonprofit, stand by.

UPDATE: 7:45 P.M.

Several other businesses operate inside the same 8-acre McAllen warehouse site, public records show. It’s unclear if ICE agents raided those businesses, but the two buses were located in the rear of the warehouse park, near the entrances of the other businesses. 

Trebol de Oro LLC, founded in 2008, is a different used clothing business, or ropa usada company. Carlos and Divany Tapia of Mexico City own the business, Texas incorporation records show. 

Mr. Fox LLC, formed in 2008, is owned by Carlos Rodriguez Gomez and Feliciano Carranza Alvarez in McAllen, but it was not immediately clear which industry the business operates. 

Trebol’s Trucking LLC, a transportation business which dates back to 2011, appears to have an inactive franchise tax status and was also created by Divany Tapia, of Mexico City. 

All of the businesses with owners in Mexico show a shared registered agent, or attorney: McAllen-based Athony Matulewicz, who practices immigration law. 

Bien Trading LLC, which also operates at the site, had an inactive franchise tax status and was created back in 2022 by Shahid Khimani of Houston. 

About a five minute drive away, there’s another used clothing business, Oro Ropa Usada. That company is operated by Rodolfo Castillo, a McAllen city commissioner whose home was searched by federal agents on Thursday, records obtained by Valleycentral show. 

Check back later for details on this developing story.