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By Dan Gooding
Associate News Editor
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United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have confirmed that they took an 8-year-old Haitian boy into custody Thursday, with local California advocates reporting he was restrained.
The Department of Homeland Security said that the boy, who attends Fay Elementary School in San Diego, had gone for a scheduled immigration check-in with his uncle when agents took him into custody. He had been living with his uncle after his father was deported over a year ago, according to DHS.
ICE has faced scrutiny over its tactics to detain and deport immigrants without legal status under the Trump administration, including children. Lawmakers and school districts have raised concerns over federal agents' presence outside schools or near school bus stops, with the federal government frequently defending its actions.
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In a letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Tuesday, San Diego Democratic Representative Juan Vargas, along with other California representatives, said he had "deep concerns" about the reported incident.
"An ICE officer reportedly invoked the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) of 2008 while taking him into custody, apparently placing the child in restraints and separating him from the person who brought him for his hearing. Video footage appears to show the use of restraints on a child who seemed to pose no threat to those around him, raising serious questions about the handling of this incident," the lawmakers wrote.
"We express concerns about the basis for this action and the harm it may cause a young child who appeared for his required hearing."
DHS denied the allegations the boy had been placed in detention, telling Newsweek in a statement that "any suggestion otherwise is a depraved attempt to smear our ICE law enforcement officers and undermine the work of President Trump and [Homeland] Secretary [Markwayne] Mullin to protect children."
Newsweek reached out to Vargas' office and the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) for further comment on Tuesday.
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Haitian Boy Held by ICE: What We Know
According to an Instagram post from San Diego Council Member Sean Elo-Rivera, shared on November 5, the third-grader, who has not been named, lived in City Heights and both his parents were "taken from him last year."
Elo-Rivera said, "Now he's been taken from his guardian, his school, his friends, and his community." The Council Member said this was due to the Trump administration's termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians.
Vargas and the other California Representatives who wrote to DHS said that video footage from the incident appeared to show the 8-yeard-old being restrained by federal agents.
In a statement to Newsweek, a DHS spokesperson said that agents encountered the boy on November 5 when a man "claiming to be the child's uncle" took him to an ICE check-in.
"After ICE confirmed that he was not part of either family unit he had been living with, and because the alleged uncle could not establish legal guardianship of the minor in accordance with Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) requirements, the minor was determined to be an unaccompanied alien child (UAC)," the spokesperson said.
"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 and place him in the care of the Office of Refugee Resettlement."
DHS said that the boy had initially been brought to the U.S. by a man who said he was his father, who was later deported to Mexico.
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School District Calls Out ICE
In a letter to DHS last week, the SDUSD said the boy's uncle had taken him to the appointment because he did not want to break the law. The use of the TVPRA had left the uncle "distraught," the district wrote.
The district also called out DHS on its decision to revoke TPS for Haitians, saying the move had affected children in its care.
"We have witnessed situations in which children who should be attending school and participating in a supportive educational environment instead find themselves in government facilities far from their schools, teachers, classmates, and support systems," the letter said.
SDUSD said it had sent crisis counselors to the boy's school after his classmates expressed concern and fear for their friend.
In its statement to Newsweek, DHS said that the Secretary of Homeland Security was leading efforts to help immigrant children without legal guardians or parents present in the U.S.
"Since you want to talk about immigrant children, let’s talk about the 450,000 unaccompanied children the Biden Administration lost or placed with unvetted sponsors. How much oxygen did you devote to these children before Biden was booted from office?" the spokesperson said.
"Many of the children who came across the border unaccompanied were allowed to be placed with sponsors who were smugglers and sex traffickers. Unlike the previous administration, President Trump and DHS take the responsibility to protect children seriously and will continue to work with federal, state, and local law enforcement to reunite children with their families."
What Happens Next
Vargas and his colleagues requested DHS confirm the boy's whereabouts and explain whether his family knew where he was being held.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Hollie Silverman and Geoffrey Rowland.
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