AMNA NAWAZ: Even as the Trump administration continues to insist that its immigration policies are only targeting the worst of the worst, many other immigrants in America are being detained as well.

William Brangham speaks with the wife of one.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Several weeks ago, Hernan Escobar on his way to his construction job outside of Boston when he was stopped by masked immigration agents.

His car window was shattered and he was arrested.

Escobar came to the U.S.

seven years ago from El Salvador and met his wife, who's a U.S.

citizen.

They settled in Massachusetts and began building a life there.

Their marriage paperwork, which would grant him legal rights to stay in the U.S., was just being finalized when he was arrested.

Escobar's wife, Leslie Gonzalez, who's a legal aide attorney, joins us now.

Leslie, thank you so much for talking with us.

I know this has got to be a very fraught period for you.

Can you just tell us a little bit about the day that Hernan was arrested?

What happened, as far as you know?

LESLIE GONZALEZ, Wife of Hernan Escobar: First of all, thank you so much for having me.

That day changed everything.

Hernan was on his way to work.

He's a roofer.

He's typically up before the sun.

He was two minutes from our apartment complex when he was stopped by ICE agents in masks and an unmarked vehicle.

He called me in a panic.

It was 5:27 a.m.

I heard shouting, glass shattering.

And then I heard him say: "Ow, you're hurting me."

When I arrived on the scene, there were multiple officers there.

The ICE agents had smashed his window and had attempted to forcibly remove him from his car.

The first thing I was asked when I got there was my cooperation in de-escalating the situation.

I pointed out that there was a Taser in his face.

They lowered the Taser.

And I went immediately to him to try to reassure him and let him know everything was going to be OK.

But, of course, it was not.

I remember standing there holding my phone just not understanding how this could have happened.

My husband, he's a man with no criminal record.

He's married to a U.S.

citizen.

He's doing everything right.

I was completely at a loss.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: So you have no idea why he was targeted that morning?

LESLIE GONZALEZ: I do not.

All I know is that he's not the only person in the situation that has no criminal record that is being detained.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: We asked DHS for a statement about his arrest, and they said that your husband -- quote -- "refused to comply with officer commands to roll down his window.

The officers took appropriate action and followed their training to use the minimum amount to force necessary to resolve the situation."

Can you give me a response to that?

What -- they're saying basically that he didn't comply with their instructions.

LESLIE GONZALEZ: I can only speak from my perspective.

I was on the scene almost immediately, and I heard what was happening as I was on my way there.

I was on the phone with Hernan as he was being detained.

He called me immediately.

And I remember hearing him plead with the officers: "Please just wait for my wife.

Please just wait for my wife."

He had rolled down his window enough to be able to give them his identification, his dress license.

He told me that they didn't even look at his license.

He was asking them to identify themselves because they were masked.

They did not have typical police gear on.

They were in a gray vehicle with New York license plates, and my husband did not know what was going on.

He did not know why he was being stopped and especially why he had been hit by the other vehicle.

When I arrived, I immediately went to his side.

He opened the door.

He complied with every request that the ICE officers made of him, and he was taken away on a stretcher.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: What do you know about the conditions that he's in?

LESLIE GONZALEZ: My husband is being held in Plymouth County.

I know that initially he was in a different patio.

He said the conditions were terrible.

He has since been transferred to another patio, where he sleeps in a cell with four other people.

It is extremely noisy.

He's not able to sleep much at night.

He is limited in terms of when he can use the bathroom.

Hernan is not one to complain in general, but he is also extremely protective of me.

I know he is being strong for me.

Whenever I speak with him, he tries to keep it light.

When I saw him, he was cracking jokes left and right, telling me he had been working out every day, showing me his muscles.

He is an extremely positive person, and he is the light in my life.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I know that you're in the middle of this big legal fight, but there are still many people, supporters of the administration, who argue that, if you came to the country illegally, that you don't have a right to be here.

And I wonder, even in the midst of this fraught period that you're in, how you would respond to people like that.

LESLIE GONZALEZ: I would just ask that they look beyond the paperwork to the person to consider the family.

My husband is not a threat.

He is a hard worker.

He is a son.

He is a future father, I hope.

And I'm an attorney myself.

I know what accountability looks like.

I just don't think that this is what justice looks like.

My husband deserves compassion, not cruelty.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: All right, Leslie Gonzalez, wife of Hernan Escobar, thank you so much for talking with us.

LESLIE GONZALEZ: Thank you.

I very much appreciate you giving Hernan a voice.