Eight-year-old Haitian boy detained by ICE in San Diego is unaccounted for, congressman says
Relatives of an eight-year-old Haitian third-grader cannot locate him after Immigration and Customs Enforcement took him into custody at what the family called a routine immigration appointment in San Diego on 4 November. NBC News video showed three armed officials leading the boy away. California Democratic congressman Juan Vargas told NBC on Monday that the child’s whereabouts were unknown and that he was working to reunite him with loved ones, calling the detention of a child “despicable” and “inhumane.”
The Haitian Bridge Alliance said the boy, a pupil at Fay Elementary School, had been living with his uncle and cousins after his father was deported last year. Executive director Guerline Jozef said she learned he was transferred to the Office of Refugee Resettlement under the Department of Health and Human Services. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told the Guardian that ICE acted “out of an abundance of caution and to ensure the child’s safety,” that the uncle could not prove legal guardianship, and that anti-trafficking rules required treating the boy as an “unaccompanied alien child.” The statement denied he was taken to be placed in detention, said he lacked legal immigration status, and said Customs and Border Protection had deported his father to Mexico. Jozef said the abrupt deportation left no chance to transfer formal guardianship.
San Diego Unified School District leaders, including trustee Cody Petterson, wrote to ICE over the revocation of Temporary Protected Status for Haitians; Petterson said the child belongs with his uncle, not in custody among strangers. In a Sunday 60 Minutes interview, Donald Trump said his mass-deportation policy had been “too tough” for many people, had both helped and hurt, and had contributed to Republican losses in the 3 November midterms, hinting at a softer approach for his remaining two years.
Continue in the app — vote & join in ➔