This article was originally published in the Vision Zero Cities Journal, released as part of Transportation Alternatives’ 2025 Vision Zero Cities conference, which will take place October 28-30 in New York City.
On a chilly day in January, Jose Alvaro, his wife, and their three kids piled into the family car to grab some baby formula at the grocery store. It was a routine trip. But when police in Lubbock, Texas, pulled them over — reportedly for a license plate issue — their lives took a catastrophic turn.
Alvaro, 29, was undocumented. Though he had no criminal record and though he was in the process of applying for a green card, the officer contacted ICE. Soon, immigration officers swarmed the car and detained Alvaro for deportation, his four-year-old son sobbing in the back seat…