On Tuesday, as thousands across the state made their morning commutes, more than two dozen workers on their way to a construction site at Mount Nittany Hospital in Centre County never showed up at the job.

Instead, they were arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, who, in collaboration with Pennsylvania State Police, pulled over and detained at least 26 men in two separate stops — one on Interstate 99 in Bellefonte and another on Route 220 near the Milesburg exit, according to the Centre County Rapid Response Network, which tracks ICE activity. Video of the arrests shows officers in ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations uniforms detaining the men alongside the highway.

At a press conference Thursday, John, a coworker of those arrested who did not provide his last name, said he picked up some of the men from a hotel and took them to a Sheetz to get coffee, which is how they usually started their day. As they neared the exit to Mount Nittany Hospital, lights flashed in his rearview mirror.

“A passenger van immediately pulled directly in front of us, and another silver Ford Expedition unmarked behind us,” John said. “They took my ID, gave it back and proceeded to the other side to pull guys out one by one.”

The ICE agents took each man's phone, asking where they were from and whether they had work permits — which the agents checked after they tied each of the men’s arms behind their backs, he said. Afterward, the men were whisked away in unmarked vehicles. Such incidents have become increasingly common across Western Pennsylvania as the federal government continues its aggressive deportation campaign.