Morning Wire - The ICE “Diaper Dad” Story Isn’t What It Seems

Episode Date: August 8, 2026

Daily Wire immigration reporter Jennie Taer joins Tim Rice to unpack the bizarre case of Martin Soto, an illegal immigrant whose wife claimed he was “kidnapped” by ICE while supposedly out buying diapers. But a police report paints a very different picture, alleging Soto was arrested for domestic assault before ICE took custody of him. Then came the angry Instagram messages, contradictory explanations, a $67,000 GoFundMe, and an activist network helping push the original story — raising some very uncomfortable questions about what happens when a sympathetic immigration narrative collides with the actual police record. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What if a few minutes with God could change the direction of your entire day? With pray.com, you can begin each morning with powerful daily prayers, inspiring Bible stories, and messages created to strengthen your faith. Whether you need peace, encouragement, or a fresh start, pray.com helps you make prayer part of your everyday life. Download the pray.com app today. Hello, I'm Tim Rice. Welcome to another edition of Behind the Story. Joining me today is one of our favorite guests, Daily Wire Immigration Reporter Jenny Tare. Jenny, thank you so much for coming back on the show. Thanks. It's great to be back.

So we have so many things that we could talk about because you are, of course, writing prolifically, constantly getting scoops and exclusives on your beat, which is potentially one of the crazier beats that we cover. But instead of talking about, you know, the migrant crisis and Spain, the potential push to oust Mark Wayne Mullen from the Department of Homeland Security, the recent back and forth on whether ICE is going to do vehicle stops or not, which is another story that you broke. I want to talk about what I think is maybe my favorite story that you have written ever. And it's about our friend Martine Soto.

And specifically, the recent developments that you had communicating with his wife. So before we get into the really good stuff, why don't you just take us back, remind us who this guy is and why he's in the news at all to begin with? Right. So if you all remember, there were those hunger strikes at Delaney Hall. That's the ICE detention center in Newark. A few months back, a lot of chaos outside the facility clashes between anti-ice protesters and local and federal authorities. there was a lot of concern about the conditions inside from those anti-ice protesters, and they said that that was why those detainees were on a hunger strike inside. We basically at the time actually had debunked that there was really a true hunger strike going on because what ended up happening is that those detainees were just opting not to eat their meals for the day, and they were just stalking up at the the commissary where the offerings were pretty nice. They even had like clams. They had like sushi as well as like your normal, you know, like Fritos, honey buns type of thing.

Which like, to be clear, I am not jumping the line to eat ice detention facility sushi. No. But the fact of the matter is that is an absurd thing. to have on offer, regardless the quality of the rows of the quality, if what you're claiming is you're on a hunger strike. Anyway, I digress. Exactly. So would not go for the clams. But the situation was that Martine Soto, one of the detainees from Peru that was inside that facility, was actually said to be leading that hunger strike. And was his wife actually was outside the facility at the time. She was kind of leading some protests on behalf of the, detainees. And she was arguing for her husband's innocence. And she was saying that he was taken by ICE while he was out buying diapers for their child. And she said that happened on February 1st. Come to find out through a police report that we obtained, this individual, Martine Soto,

was actually arrested, yes, on February 1st, not by ICE, but by local authorities in Carney, New Jersey, where they took him into custody for charges of domestic assault, simple assault. And there were some details that were provided in the police report. However, the name of the victim, which again, this was a domestic assault, the name of the victim, we don't know because it was redacted. Now, I can give you a glimpse into what was said about what Martina allegedly did that day, was he purposely caused bodily injury to this unnamed female victim, specifically by using his hands both open and close to strike her in her face, causing minor scratches and cuts to her face and neck.

That's what the police report said. Now, ICE did take him into custody. Hold on, sorry. I'm jumping in because you laughed out the last part, which is Soto then allegedly placed a hand over her mouth so she could not scream for help. that's also a quote from That's correct. Over her mouth so she could not scream for help.

So this is all in, again, a local police report. So I mean, also I guess this is probably redacted, but we don't, someone called 911, right? So either presumably, right, either the victim or a neighbor who heard a scuffle, right? Like this was cops were called, they arrest him, they put him in jail. Again, up until now, we are talking about a horrific but a pretty standard, like, if this is something that any, citizen did in the United States, they would also be brought to jail, right? Exactly. He was brought into jail. This is, you know, still February 1st. Well, it wasn't until February 2nd that I showed up to the jail. They encountered him at the jail. And that's when they

took him into custody and took him into Delaney Hall, apparently because of the charges against him and learning that he was in the country illegally. So no, according to this police report, he was not out innocently buying diapers when he was said to be kidnapped by ICE, this is completely different. The story that his wife has put out and this whole victim narrative has completely unraveled because of this. And yeah, truly shocking stuff when I read this. Before we, I want to get to his wife next because this is the best part of the story. But the other question, no one, no one's denying that he's here illegally, right? Like even before you reported this police report,

even when the sob story narrative was still what everyone was running with, neither Martin nor Gabriella Soto said he was here, right? So that's even crazier that the thing that they were running with was that he was kidnapped off the street, even if he was just out happily buying diapers,

you know, whistling a happy tune, he's still here illegally, so it's still within the purview of federal immigration authorities to arrest and to, him. So it's crazy that that's, again, like, it's even from the beginning, the defenders here and the immigration activists are moving the ball so much, which is, again, I think that's an important point. Like, he was deaf, no one is denying that he is here illegally.

Right. But his wife remains his biggest supporter. And so you, like any intrepid journalist would, you reached out to her. And I just want you, please just tell me the story from the very beginning. How'd you find her? Where'd you contact her? Tell us, walk us through the conversation. Spare no detail. Yeah. Well, obviously when I heard this was a domestic situation, I wanted to reach out to the wife. And I also wanted to reach out to her because she's the one alleging that he was innocently taken by ICE and that it was over circumstances of buying diapers. So I wanted to get her side of the story based on, you know, what we had come up with. So I sent her a message on Instagram and I said, here's what we've learned from this police report.

and she seemed to have no knowledge of it or said she had no knowledge of it. She immediately said my husband never hit me. I even have proof from pictures and selfies I'd taken that week. And she said she did not have any injuries and that he never hit anyone and would never hit another woman. So then I sent her the police report and I said, here's what I have in front of me right now. Like, can you explain what I? I'm looking at and like, do you know who the victim is? She confirmed that it was her husband's information, but again said that he never hit any woman and that they don't live with anyone

else, so she couldn't think of anyone, apparently, and just kind of got into some semantics about, you know, one number being off on the address, but said all the other information was correct. Um, so, you know, then I kind of went into the, well, what about the buying diapers thing? Like, was that what's, what was happening still? Like, now that you have this in front of you, do you still want to say that? Um, and is it possible that he was with another woman? And I'm not saying, I'm sorry, like, I'm going to go there. I'm not saying that it's relevant to the story. It also happens to be hilarious. I, I just got. Guys, when Jenny sent me the screenshots of these texts, I was just, I was like, this is, this is why she's the absolute goat.

Like, that's just, you have to ask. Welcome to the Real Housewives of journalism. So, yeah. So basically, you know, and it was a fair question because, okay, this is, this is an unnamed woman who's the victim. It could have been, you know, I'm not saying he's having an affair. I'm saying, was it his mom? Was it one of the children's grandmothers? I don't know.

You know, who is this woman? And she just went into that, you know, you're insinuating that my husband's cheating on me. Can I read? I know we didn't publish the screenshots, but can I? Yeah. Jenny said, you said, how do you know he was out buying diapers? Is it possible he was with another woman? I'm wondering if Martin kept this information from you.

We know he was handed off in the jail to ICE on February 2nd after this arrest. She said, and I can't stress enough, guys, that this is on Instagram DM, which just makes it aesthetically so fantastic. Please do not insinuate that my husband, my in all caps, was cheating on me because I have been with him since I was 19. I know he will never cheat on me, and that would never happen, okay? You do not know anything about my marriage, my family, or my relationship from one report. My husband will never do nothing to harm his family or his marriage. I know exactly where he was and what he does and who he talks to. do not ever tell me about my marriage or family.

Do not ever tell me about what my husband did or didn't do. To which you replied, I did not mean to insinuate it was another romantic partner. I'm just trying to understand the origins of his arrest by Kearney PD. She said, we'll try and understand it another way because my husband never got arrested by Karen EPD. He left the house on February 1st at 5.30 p.m. I have messages and locations from everything for proof that afternoon. and I have a call from Delaney Hall at 10.30-ish that night when he called me.

So a couple of things there. First of all, just incredible. Again, incredible. Second of all, I love her defense. You're like, is it possible that it was another woman he assaulted? And she said, that couldn't be, I've known him since I was 19. Okay. Okay, so he hasn't talked to another woman.

Yeah, also, like, that's definitely how that works. But the craziest part is, she just says that he wasn't arrested. But she already confirmed that the information is, in the arrest record and the police report was her husband's information and then at the tail end of all of that she says, and he wasn't even arrested. If that's the case, why not just lead with that?

Why send you 11 angry messages about how you don't know anything about her marriage? If her point is that that police report is false, why not just say that police report is false? My husband was never arrested by Karen EPD. End of conversation. Why keep fighting with a reporter?

What was going on? What do you think? What was it? That's so crazy. Yeah, I, you know, I was wondering at this point, like, well, why didn't she consult her lawyers, who actually, I should mention I did reach out to as well and never heard back from. So she does have some legal support that she could have run this by first, but she was just, she just went rogue and this is where it got her, kind of tying herself in knots over this story, like not really giving clear answers or consistent answers. It doesn't. add up to me that yes, that's your husband on the police report, but no, that never happened. And her explanation was basically that, you know, the policing system is corrupted. So who knows, but she didn't want to say, like, necessarily that the report may have been, like, fabricated.

Because I'm like, well, what are you, you know, where would this have come from, you know? At this point, the question is, like, are you saying that the police just made this up altogether? And I will say, too, that the New Jersey court system and the powers that be there made it very difficult to get any of this information. And I had to go through sources to figure this out. So I still don't know the results of these charges. I don't know where this stands. it's very interesting to me how like hush-hush the system has been when it comes to this local case against him. Yeah, I was just saying this to you earlier before we started taping the show, but it's crazy to me how the second deportation is on the table, the second that ICE or CBP or federal officials get involved.

Local authorities and, you know, people, everyone, anyone who isn't an immigration or, Hawk just immediately sort of like brushes off whatever the kind of primary claim here was. We were discussing earlier Kilmar Obrego Garcia, right? Where they made all this hay about his, you know, being illegally detained. He was arrested for suspicion of human trafficking. You know, I said earlier, if I got pulled over with a car full of people who looked like they were there against their will, they're going to take me in. If my neighbor called the cops on me because I was beating the crap out of a woman in my house,

I'm going to go, you know, to jail and no one's going to say, well, hold on, you know. You have no right to do that. You know, he was, he was just, he was just in his home. He was just driving down the road. Yeah, he was in his home. He was driving down the road while committing a crime. And if I or any other citizen were found guilty of that crime, we would serve out the sentence. It's just one extra step that if these people are not here legally, then it's like, yeah.

I mean, it's not, it's not punitive on top of it. It's not that we're deporting citizens for domestic violence. That would be bad. But we're deporting people who, again, crop up in the system because they've done other crimes. It's just, it's baffloat to me. On that point, where is, so is Soto still in Delaney Hall or has he been sprung? Yeah, Gabriella eventually cooled down and she said that he's possibly going to be released. He had a habeas petition, which moved his case out of the immigration courts to a district court where judges tend to be more favorable towards illegal immigrants and in granting release.

So it's possible that he will get out soon. That seems to be what they're working towards. And I should also mention that her advocacy for her husband has given her a massive payout. She started to go fund me arguing for his innocence, saying that she's raising money for their family. And she raised about $67,000. So, you know. It's a lot of diapers. If that whole story is debunked, then what happens to that money?

I don't know. She has, you know, a lot of incentives. here to stay on this, but you mentioned the Kilmar-Berago-Garcia story. It's almost out of the same playbook with that because the wife of Kilmar-Abrego-Garcia, she stood by his side through all of his, you know, allegations of human smuggling and, of course, being in the country illegally and being an MS-13 gang member, all these things that led to his deportation and then coming back for prosecution. She stood by him and then come to find out that she's actually sought orders against him for domestic abuse. So it's just an interesting thing that these seem very similar in that sense,

but you know, can't say exactly of, you know, what this is all a result of. But yeah, it's just she's made a lot of money and she's still fighting for his innocence. And so I want to go back to that because you mentioned the fundraiser, and earlier you mentioned, you know, that she has lawyers. This is not just a woman standing outside, not just, you know, a girl standing in front of a boy asking for him to get released from ICE custody. She has, she's working with multiple nonprofits, right, kind of pro-immigration or pro-legal groups. And the fundraiser is hosted by Act Blue, which is the Democratic Party's fundraising platform. This is where every Democratic lawmaker raises, like, campaign funds. things for super PACs and, you know, affiliate causes like this can be, the platform also hosts that.

And you reported on that. So, like, this is a pretty big, again, a pretty big massive effort that Gabriella Soto is at the middle of. But can you just talk a little bit about what's going on with the Act Blue involvement and what that might mean for the platform? Yeah. So Act Blue Charities was the fundraising platform. It's the fundraising platform for the Democratic Party for candidates, Democratic candidates. And they were processing donations for this group called Coseca. That group was organizing anti-ice protests.

And then they also had a petition to free Martin Soto, this man who was accused of domestic assault and then led that hunger strike in Delaney Hall. They said he was kidnapped by ICE while getting diapers. So there's that story again. It came up there. And again, they're promoting that what seems to be a false narrative while fundraising and through the support of Act Blue in this case. So it's all kind of like this web of connections that doesn't look great. We've seen time and time again that Act Blue Charities, you know, helps support organizations like this. And they do take in the money initially and then they hand it back to the organization.

So there's always been questions about, you know, what are they keeping? Are they giving it all back? What fees are they charging? Because they do charge some fees and where does that money go to? So we don't have a lot of answers as to that. But, yeah, there's definitely some cause for concern about their involvement. with this group that has been pushing this apparent false narrative about Martin Soto. And they didn't respond to come for a request for comment, right?

You reached out to Act Blue and they just didn't get anything from there, right? Yeah, that's such a fascinating platform. I think in the past they've got come under fire for hosting donations for like foreign-based political groups, which is illegal. Crazy. I just saw, I can't remember if it was Abdul Al-Sayette or somebody else, but one of the major Democrat campaigns is paying like $30,000 a month to Act Blue for handling fees for their fund rate. It's just, I mean, these platforms exist.

Republicans have one too. It's called Win Red. But the crazy thing about Win Red is you never see stories about Win Red being embroiled in this, even from critical media, whereas Act Blue is sort of constantly under fire. I mean, Jenny, last thing before I let you go, where do we go next with these sorts of stories? like, is there anything? Because again, obviously, you know, lawmakers and the Trump administration talk a lot about deportations and then things get held up when, you know, a specific person who was detained or deported decides to become an activist and then his family steps in. And then clearly there's this whole activist fundraising network ready to come in and facilitate these protests. I mean, what is the answer? Is it just, is it just continued media coverage like what you're doing or are there lawmakers that are trying to? you know, kind of stop this sort of thing. It just seems to me that an under-discussed thing is you could deport as many people as you want.

But if each time you, for every five people you deport, you create a new pro-illegal immigrant activist movement, it's almost like, is the juice even worth the squeeze? Yeah, it's a good question. But in a lot of cases, the Trump administration has gone full force against these activists. specifically there was a case in North Texas against Antifa members who actually were the first group to be prosecuted on terrorism charges against Antifa. They were caught staging a ambush outside of an ice facility there and they shot a local police officer in the chaos of it all because they lured. officers outside of the building, outside of a nice office with fireworks on July 4th, and then started just spraying bullets everywhere.

You know, these smaller organizations, these groups that are forming around people like Martine Soto, Kilmara-Brego Garcia, they can be pretty loud. They have a lot of support, as we said, $67,000 raised on GoFundMe for Martinez Soto's family. That's a pretty big chunk from just, you know, her efforts. But yeah, I mean, the media runs with these narratives that, and if you read headlines about Martin Soto, you'll see the headlines are about a man who was out buying diapers, who was kidnapped by ice. So we are the antidote to that. I try my best. The hunger strikers are eating ramen. The diaper guy was actually in jail for, you know, knocking out a woman. It's amazing what happens when you

you actually just report the truth and not, you know, what the, what the criminals and their allies are insisting as well happened. Yeah. And I will continue to pull at that thread. Like, we're not going to stop. So, stay tuned. Yeah, I definitely don't ever want this story to end. Jenny Tare is the Daily Wires immigration reporter.

Jenny, it is a pleasure, as always, to have you on. Thank you. Thank you for joining me. And thank you all for tuning in. We'll be back next week with another episode of Behind the Story. What if a few minutes with God? could change the direction of your entire day. With pray.com, you can begin each morning with powerful daily prayers, inspiring Bible stories,

and messages created to strengthen your faith. Whether you need peace, encouragement, or a fresh start, pray.com helps you make prayer part of your everyday life. Download the pray.com app today.