Father picked up by ICE while buying diapers for his kids

A father in Hudson County went out to buy diapers for his two young kids, but never made it home. Martin Soto, 30, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on Monday while buying diapers in Kearny, his wife told NJ Advance Media.

"He went to get diapers and never returned," Gabriela Soto said. Soto said her husband left at about 5:30 p.m. on Monday and she started calling him about an hour later wondering where he was. At about 11:30 p.m. she received a call from a "Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)" phone number and her husband was on the other line.

He explained to her that he was stopped by ICE officers that night and that there was confusion during the conversation based on a language barrier. "He told me he kept saying he didn't understand," Soto recalled.

"He said they got frustrated and just arrested him."

Martin, originally from Peru, speaks Spanish as his primary language but can speak English fairly well, Soto said. "He has trouble understanding English if the person is speaking too fast," she added.

Martin is being held at Delaney Hall and was processed on Wednesday, according to Soto. She said the first day she could visit him was today.

Martin entered the U.S. illegally in late 2023 and was released by immigration authorities in early 2024, according to Soto.

The pair were in a long-distance relationship for about four and a half years when Soto would periodically fly to Peru to visit Martin, she said.

After their daughter was born in New Jersey, they discussed how to regroup as a family in one location and discussed whether to endure the three-year process of legally immigrating or travel to the U.S. and navigate the immigration process from within the country.

The couple's daughter is four years old and their son is 10 months old, Soto said.

Soto, a U.S. citizen who married Martin in 2024, started a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for an immigration attorney.

"We never fully got a lawyer for his immigration status because his court date was due for 2028," Soto wrote in the GoFundMe. "We were going to use this year to make all the changes so he can have a lawyer through this whole process."

Soto said she met with several attorneys Wednesday and that her husband has an immigration hearing in about two weeks.

A spokesperson for ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Matthew Enuco; nj.com; (TNS) | ©2026 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit nj.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.