cross-posted from: https://piefed.social/c/crimes_of_ice@lemmy.4d2.org/p/2592261/ice-takes-8-year-old-haitian-boy-into-custody-at-san-diego-check-in
An 8-year-old Haitian boy who was summoned to check-in with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was taken into federal custody after his appointment Wednesday, sparking outrage among San Diego Unified School District leaders, who said Friday they were unsure where the child was being held.
The boy is a third grader at Fay Elementary School in City Heights and lost Temporary Protected Status earlier this year, according to district officials, who said he was staying with his uncle after his father was deported last year.
The district said the child received a letter to meet with an ICE agent and his uncle took him “because he did not want to break the law.” The agent then took the child into custody, “leaving the uncle distraught, and this 8-year-old without the support of their family, community and their school," according to the district’s letter.
A spokesperson from the Department of Homeland Security said ICE took the child into custody “out of an abundance of caution and to ensure the child’s safety" after his uncle could not establish legal guardianship.
“Allegations that ICE took a third grader into custody to be placed in detention are false, and any suggestion otherwise is a depraved attempt to smear our ICE law enforcement officers and undermine the work of President Trump and Secretary Mullin to protect children,” the spokesperson said.
DHS said Customs and Border Protection previously deported the father to Mexico. It’s not clear where the boy’s mother is.
Guerline Jozef, the executive director of the nonprofit Haitian Bridge Alliance, said ICE did not give the father an opportunity to transfer guardianship before deporting him “without taking into account the wellbeing of the children left behind.”
Cody Petterson, a board trustee with the SDUSD, said it’s not clear where the child is being held, but they believe it may be Los Angeles. Either way, Petterson added, it’s "certainly not with family or with a designated caregiver.”
“This could very well be my child, could be your child. It could be any of our child,” Petterson said, noting that this was, to his knowledge, the first time ICE had detained a child who attends an SDUSD school.
This happened on 11/4. This article was published on the 9th and says that
On Tuesday, four California lawmakers and two senators sought confirmation from the federal government about the child’s whereabouts and whether his family is aware of his location.