The Cuban content creator Osvaldo Oliva, known on TikTok as @osvaldooliva76, posted a seven-and-a-half-minute video that captures the tense moment when an agent, allegedly from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), stopped him while he was driving in Key West, Florida.
Oliva, a legal permanent resident in the United States, recorded the entire interaction with the agent and later shared it on her social media with the title: "ICE stops me in Key West." As she describes in the video, it was not the first time she had been stopped while driving in that area.
"This is the second time I've been stopped here. Of course, this is Key West; these people will stop you for anything," the young man said as he waited for the officer to check the vehicle’s license plate information.
For about two minutes of direct confrontation, the Cuban questioned the legality of the procedure and initially refused to hand over his documents: "Is this a legal stop? A legal stop for what? To check my immigration status? You are not police or anything like that."
The agent firmly replied that he was an immigration officer and enforcer of the law. He warned, "You are going to be detained for the moment. Sue me or do whatever you want." He also clarified that the situation did not constitute a formal arrest: "Right now, you are detained, you are not under arrest, you are detained."
Tension escalated when the officer demanded the driver's license and the permanent resident card. He warned, "If you don't have your license, I'm taking you with me; it's a crime to not have your license." Under that pressure, Oliva finally handed over his documents and was released. He did not publicly explain the specific reason for the stop.
After the incident, the Cuban sent a message to his community: “Thank God I am a permanent resident, but I’m warning you in case you can avoid passing through here. If it’s not necessary, don’t come by, my people.”
The video sparked a heated debate on social media
Numerous users backed the immigration agent: "Does he think that being a resident gives him the right to disobey the law? Unbelievable," wrote one follower. Another remarked, "If he is a resident, he needs to have his green card on him."
However, others defended Oliva: "The kid is within his rights; the officer is from immigration, not transit," commented a user with 50 positive reactions.
One of the most reacted comments questioned the procedure: "Is it a crime not to carry your residency? That's abuse of power; he already verified that he is a resident."
The incident occurs in the context of intensified ICE operations in Key West, where local police can perform immigration functions alongside the federal agency after reinstating in July 2025 their 287(g) cooperation agreement.
At the regional level, the detention of Cuban migrants increased by 463% between October 2024 and January 2026, according to data from the Department of Homeland Security.
The ICE office in Miami accumulated over 41,000 detentions since January 2025, and in July 2026 processed nearly 6,000 people in a single month.
From a legal standpoint, permanent residents have the right to invoke the Fifth Amendment and remain silent in front of ICE, but U.S. law requires them to carry proof of their immigration status. Not carrying a driver's license is also an offense in Florida, which gave the officer an additional argument to press Oliva for identification.
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