The child’s uncle reportedly followed immigration requirements, saying he did not want to break the law. DHS says he could not establish legal guardianship.
An 8-year-old Haitian boy is currently in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and his loved ones do not know where he’s being held, according to lawmakers.
The situation was captured on video last Wednesday in San Diego by a volunteer observer of immigration proceedings as the child came to the hearing with his uncle after his father was deported last year.
In a statement, Guerline Jozef, executive director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, a rights advocacy group for immigrants, said that despite the child’s uncle following all requirements, “the child was taken into custody and subsequently transferred to the Office of Refugee Resettlement.” The office typically takes custody of children who are deemed to be unaccompanied minors.
The child is a third-grade student at Fay Elementary School in San Diego and the community remains shaken by him being in ICE custody. Earlier this summer, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Trump Administration, ending Temporary Protected Status for Haitians. The protection shielded thousands of Haitians from being deported following a 2010 earthquake that devastated the country. The protection was renewed for years as the country pressed through turbulent times, including the assassination of its president in 2021.
The San Diego Unified School District sent a letter to parents on Friday regarding the child’s immigration status and informing them that the child’s uncle brought him to an immigration hearing because he “did not want to break the law.”
DHS confirmed that a man accompanied the eight-year-old to the hearing, but could not properly “establish legal guardianship of the minor,” leading DHS to determine that the child was unaccompanied.
“Out of an abundance of caution and to ensure the child’s safety, ICE determined it was best to remove the child from the household,” a DHS spokesperson told NBC News.
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More than 1,600 children across the country are considered unaccompanied minors under HHS care, per agency data. Authorities have taken more than 8,000 children into custody over the past year, per data from the Deportation Data Project.
“Targeting a child, taking them away from their community and classmates, and forcing them into detention is despicable. It is inhumane,” Vargas told NBC San Diego. “Additionally, TPS protections must be restored for all who’ve had them unfairly ripped away.”
DHS denied allegations that the child was “placed in detention,” adding that he was “illegally brought into the United States by a man who alleged to be his father.” The man was deported to Mexico by Customs and Border Protection, not ICE, according to the agency.
SDUSD officials have revealed they’ve sent crisis counselors to the boy’s elementary school because “the child’s fellow third-grade students have expressed concern and fear for their friend.”
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