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ICE removes 8-year-old Haitian boy from care of relatives, places him in federal custody alone
A Haitian boy who previously lost Temporary Protected Status was taken into federal custody after an ICE check-in, local advocates and school officials alleged.
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An eight-year-old Haitian boy who previously lost Temporary Protected Status was taken into federal custody after an immigration check-in, according to local advocates and school officials, ABC News. 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 on Thursday, his school district and an advocacy group said.
“The eight-year-old received a letter to meet with an ICE agent,” the San Diego Unified School District said in a letter to DHS. “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.”
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.
‘ICE determined it was best to remove the child from the household’
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.
"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," the spokesperson said.
The school district and an advocacy group said that the boy remains in ORR custody. It is unclear if he will be removed from the United States.
Josef 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.”
San Diego Unified School District officials 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.
