The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has denied allegations that it took a third grader into custody to be placed in detention. ICE’s statement comes after local advocates and school officials alleged that an eight-year-old Haitian boy who previously lost Temporary Protected Status was taken into federal custody after an immigration check-in. The third grader attends Fay Elementary School in San Diego.
The boy was placed into government custody alone after attending an Immigration and Customs Enforcement appointment with his uncle, his school district and an advocacy group said. ICE has now said that the allegations and the narrative are “false,” adding that it 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 allegations
The San Diego Unified School District said in a letter to DHS that the boy received a letter to meet with an ICE agent.
“His uncle, with whom he’s been living since the child’s father was deported more than a year ago, took him to meet the agent because he did not want to break the law,” added the letter.
According to advocates and school officials, the boy had been living with his uncle and cousins after his father was deported to Mexico in 2025.
“They did not give the father the opportunity or chance to actually put in place legal guardianship for the kid,” said Guerline Jozef, the executive director of the nonprofit Haitian Bridge Alliance.
Cody Petterson, a board trustee with the SDUSD, told ABC News the uncle was designated as an authorized caregiver on school records.
However, a spokesperson for ICE told the outlet that since the uncle failed to establish legal guardianship, agents treated the boy as an unaccompanied child under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act. The federal law provides protections for unaccompanied immigrant children.
The agency did not accuse the uncle of any abuse or wrongdoing. However, it invoked the law to mandate the child’s transfer after designating him as an unaccompanied minor.
Jozef referred to the detention as “an excuse for [ICE] to remove the child and potentially put him in deportation proceedings.”
“He was dressed very well, and he is very well cared for,” Jozef added. “There’s absolutely no reason for them to remove him from the care of his relatives without putting in place proper procedures for him, knowing very well that ICE already deported the father.”
ICE releases statement
ICE dismissed the allegations as “false” in an X post after the news triggered outrage.
“On November 5, a man claiming to be the child’s uncle took him to an ICE check in. Because the alleged uncle could not establish legal guardianship in accordance with Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) requirements, the minor was determined to be an unaccompanied alien child (UAC). To ensure the child’s safety, ICE placed him in the care of the Office of Refugee Resettlement,” wrote ICE.
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“The child was initially illegally brought into the United States with a man who alleged to be his father, who was previously removed to Mexico by CBP and has never been in ICE custody,” it added.
ICE further wrote, “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? Secretary Mullin is leading efforts to rescue these children and stop their exploitation. Unlike the previous administration, President Trump and DHS take the responsibility to protect children seriously and will continue to work with law enforcement to reunite children with their families.”
San Diego Unified School District officials previously said in a letter to DHS that they have “witnessed situations in which children who should be attending school and participating in a supportive educational environment instead find themselves in government facilities.”
“Children should not lose access to education simply because of circumstances unfolding around them,” the district added.