Germantown teen works to support family after father detained by ICE

High school by day, trying to help support his family by night.

That’s what Mark Briseno, a teen from Germantown, Maryland, says he’s been doing after his dad was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in December.

“I think I went through a really bad depression as soon as my dad got taken,” Briseno said.

It was Dec. 17, 2024 when Briseno’s life turned upside down. He says his dad, Marco Antonio Magana-Lopez, is a construction worker and was picking up supplies at the Home Depot in College Park, when he was detained by ICE. The El Salvador native has been in custody ever since.

“He’s worked. That’s all he’s known,” Briseno said. “He’s just working, working, paying bills, trying to keep a good life for me and my mom. Just trying to give me the life he didn’t really have growing up.”

Briseno says his dad had some legal trouble with taxes in the past but was on an IRS payment plan to pay back the money he owed. According to Briseno, last month an immigration judge issued his dad a deportation order.

In the meantime, Briseno has been working at Walmart after school to try to help his mom.

“I send her money so she can pay the bills,” Briseno said. “I remind her we have this bill, this bill, and we’re just working together now

ICE records confirm Briseno’s dad is currently being held in Mississippi while he awaits deportation back to El Salvador. Before that, Briseno says his dad spent several weeks at a facility in Baltimore, where he alleges the conditions were inhumane.

“The food there was awful,” Briseno said. “They had no beds, blankets, jackets, nothing. They were just sleeping on the floor. And December time, it’s cold.”

News4 reached out to the Department of Homeland Security and ICE for more information about why Magana-Lopez was detained and is now being deported. News4 also asked about the conditions at the Baltimore ICE facility and has not yet heard back.

Two months ago, the News4 I-Team obtained video from the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights shot from someone inside the Baltimore facility. Amica later submitted the video as evidence as part of a class action lawsuit over alleged inhumane conditions in Baltimore.

“We’ve heard about this level of crowding, between 20 and 50 people in cells of this size, for months,” Amelia Dagen with Amica told News4 in January.

Back in January, an ICE spokesperson told the News4 I-Team the crowding in that video was because of snow, which made it difficult to transfer detainees out of what’s supposed to be a temporary holding center.

The spokesperson also said detainees are “provided with appropriate care including food, blankets, water, and medical services.”

There will be a court hearing Tuesday to determine if the case can move forward as a class action suit.

In the meantime, Briseno is preparing to graduate from Seneca Valley High School this spring — But his dad won’t be there.

“My biggest thing is to let my parents, both of them, see me graduate,” he said. “That’s almost every kid’s hope, right? All my friends have their parents ready to see them graduate, but unfortunately, it’s just gonna be my mom this year.”