8-Year-Old Haitian Boy Detained by ICE After School Check-In
San Diego Unified School District officials expressed alarm on Friday after federal agents removed a third grader from a meeting with his uncle, placing the child in the care of the Office of Refugee Resettlement.
By Oliver Bennett ·
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement removed an eight-year-old Haitian boy from a check-in meeting in San Diego on Wednesday. The child, a third grader at Fay Elementary School in City Heights, was taken into custody by federal agents after his uncle brought him to a field office in downtown San Diego.
San Diego Unified School District officials said the boy had previously held Temporary Protected Status. They noted that the student was living with his uncle following the deportation of the child's father last year. The district stated that the uncle took the boy to the appointment because he did not want to break the law.
Video captured by a volunteer observer at the federal building shows three armed agents walking the boy from the ICE field office into an elevator. The agency said it detained the child under a 2008 law protecting trafficking victims because the uncle could not establish legal guardianship.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said ICE took the child into custody out of an abundance of caution to ensure the child's safety. The agency confirmed that Customs and Border Protection had previously deported the father to Mexico. It is not currently clear where the boy's mother is located.
SDUSD Board Trustee Cody Petterson said the district believes the child may be in Los Angeles. He stated that the boy is not with family or a designated caregiver. Petterson described the detention as the first known instance of ICE removing a child attending an SDUSD school.
The DHS spokesperson disputed the characterization of the child's current location, calling allegations that the student was placed in detention false. The statement described the move as a deformed attempt to smear ICE officers and undermine the work of President Trump and Secretary Mullin. The department said the boy was placed in the care of the Office of Refugee Resettlement.
Nearly a dozen community leaders, including the SDUSD superintendent and school board members, signed a letter to DHS on Friday. The letter called the boy's detention particularly troubling and expressed concern over the elimination of TPS and its impact on students. The board demanded that the administration prioritize keeping children close to their home schools and coordinate with local districts before relocating them.
Rep. Juan Vargas' office is handling the boy's casework. In a statement, Vargas called the detention despicable and inhumane, urging the administration to release the child and restore TPS. The Haitian Bridge Alliance is working to gather more information on the child and his family.
Guerline Jozef of the Haitian Bridge Alliance said the organization is praying and fighting for a solution. She noted that the revocation of TPS and subsequent arrests are causing pain in the community. Jozef expressed fear that the trauma of the detention could stay with the child for the rest of his life.
