Families of employees at a McAllen warehouse endured a long, hot, and chaotic Thursday as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents questioned and possibly detained workers.

At least 400 people were inside the building at 7901 S. 23rd St. when ICE agents arrived around 10 a.m., Maria Gonzalez, an immigrant rights community organizer at the scene, said.

Tres Dimensiones Ropa Usada, a used clothing wholesaler facing Texas Highway 115, appeared to be the primary target. Agents were seen escorting small groups of people out of the building, though it was unclear if they were customers or employees.

However, Tres Dimensiones is just one of several businesses operating inside the 8-acre warehouse. 

The property sits along a key commercial corridor, less than 10 minutes from the McAllen-Hidalgo International Bridge, and the border wall is visible just several hundred feet away.

Uncertainty over scope and impact

ICE’s precise target and the number of workers arrested remained unclear Thursday evening.

“It seems like they’re going to other [businesses] that are in the back, which are vegetable produce warehouses,” González said. “This one in front is for clothes, but they are attacking everyone.”

Texas Department of Public Safety troopers and ICE agents in tactical gear maintained a tight perimeter, limiting visibility into the building’s rear areas.

Families wait in the heat

Families and advocates waited for hours outside the warehouse, with about two dozen vehicles lining the roadway. Many sought answers from law enforcement, but received none.

As temperatures climbed into the mid-90s, with heat indices exceeding 100 degrees, people scrambled for shade — some under thin palm trees, others crowding near an electrical pole. Many frantically called their loved ones, who, according to advocates at the scene, had already been loaded onto two white buses parked behind the complex.

Some women wept, fearing their spouses had been swept up in the raid. At one point, a woman attempting to leave the property in a vehicle was stopped, questioned, and searched. 

She was eventually released, but that wasn’t the case for others. 

Hours after federal agents arrived, several black 15-passenger vans and at least two large white buses departed the site, heading north toward the U.S. Border Patrol’s Central Processing Center in McAllen.

Tres Dimensiones and its owner

Rosa Maria “Rosy” Villarreal, who has operated Tres Dimensiones for roughly 27 years, stood at the center of Thursday’s raid, though her business is one of multiple businesses operating at the site. 

Villarreal could not be reached for comment; calls were unanswered or quickly disconnected.

According to a 2015 McAllen Chamber of Commerce profile, Villarreal is the oldest of seven siblings and grew up at Casa Hogar Mama Paulita, a foster home in Mante, Tamaulipas, Mexico. 

Her family runs the 70,000-square-foot warehouse, processing used clothing and housewares while recycling materials wherever possible. 

At the time of the profile, the business recycled about 126,000 pounds of clothing weekly and organized annual toy and clothing drives for Villarreal’s foster home.

Other executive officers in Tres Dimensiones include New York City-based used clothing brokers Jeffrey Hiller and Melvin Hiller, who run M. Hiller & Son International, LLC, public records show.

Economic and legal context

Employers who knowingly hire individuals without legal work authorization face steep fines and criminal penalties. Paperwork violations can result in fines of $281 to $2,789 per worker, while knowingly hiring unauthorized immigrants can cost $698 to $5,579 per violation for a first offense.

“Unfortunately, they’re also criminalizing those who are giving them work, and that’s also sad because if people don’t want to work [the business owners] have to find people that do want to work,” Gonzalez said. “They shouldn’t be so hard with these business people who are trying to get ahead and trying to give work to people who are trying to feed their families.”

Gonzalez warned that such raids have broader consequences for the local economy. 

“Now these warehouses are going to be closed because there aren’t enough people to staff them. The economy is already difficult, and it’s going to be even more difficult with these raids. Whether you have [immigration] papers or not, it affects all businesses,” she said.

Hidalgo County Judge Richard F. Cortez echoed her concerns. 

“It is obvious by the number of people that are working here illegally, that our American businesses need those types of workers,” he 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.”

Advocates provide support

Gonzalez spent the day advising employees not to sign anything under pressure and reminding them of their right to an attorney.

She also educated families about locating loved ones in the immigration system, noting that detainees receive bracelets with numbers that can help track them through processing centers or detention facilities.

“I know they’re doing their job, and we respect it,” she said about ICE agents. “But they also have the power to decide. If they’re already in the process [of becoming legal] and they don’t have any marks on their record, why are they taking them?”

RGV Business Journal writer Matt Willson and managing editor Naxiely Lopez-Puente contributed to this report.