A six-year-old New York student and her mother were forcibly detained and deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), sparking widespread backlash regarding the agency's tactics.
The case, which happened shortly before the start of the new school year in New York, sparked uproar throughout the state, including from the governor and officials in the largest public school system in the United States.
New York Student Detained and Deported by ICE
The six-year-old was identified as a second-grade student who went with her mother and older brother to an ICE check-in at a federal building in lower Manhattan on Aug. 12. A family lawyer said that they were then detained by agents. The student and her mother were subsequently deported on the morning of Aug. 19.
The family, which is Ecuadorian, had sought asylum in the U.S. after arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border in December 2022. They were among the migrants who were detained in controversial tactics by the Trump administration while people were trying to attend routine immigration court hearings or ICE check-ins, according to USA Today.
Schools in New York City experienced increased enrollment, partially due to families who sought asylum during the Biden administration. Gov. Kathy Hochul said that school officials are now working to assure students that schools will remain a welcoming place for everyone.
A lawyer for one of the recently deported student's siblings, Astrid Avedissian, said that the 16-year-old sister of the six-year-old girl had no power to decide which country she would be living in or which border she would be crossing.
Advocates argue that the deported individuals were initially sent to an ICE detention center located in Dilley, Texas, while the 19-year-old son was brought to Delaney Hall detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, CBS News reported.
Helping the Young Child's Family
Assembly Member Catalina Crus and Council Member Shekar Krishnan said that there was no "greater depravity than separating a family and deporting a six-year-old child two weeks before she is supposed to start school."
Cruz and Krishnan said they are now working with legal counsel, the Department of Education, community organizations, and government agencies to assist the Ecuadorian family. On the other hand, Mayor Eric Adams and city officials filed a suit seeking an immediate halt to ICE's tactics, incorporating courthouse arrests.
New York City Public Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos said that no child or family should be "uprooted from their community or feel forced to hide in the shadows." The six-year-old's detention and deportation make her the youngest to be taken by ICE agents in New York City, as per ABC7.
