An eight-year-old Haitian boy in the third grade at a primary school in San Diego was taken into federal custody last Thursday after he and his uncle attended a scheduled appointment with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to and confirmed by school officials and advocacy groups.
The boy, whose name has not been disclosed, attends Fay Elementary School in the City Heights neighborhood. His father was deported to Mexico over a year ago without being able to formally establish legal guardianship over his son, which is why the minor was living with his uncle and cousins.
The San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) explained in a letter sent to the Department of Homeland Security that the uncle accompanied the child to the appointment because "he did not want to break the law."
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ICE determined, however, that the adult could not prove legal guardianship of the minor and classified the child as an "unaccompanied minor" under the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act, known by its acronym in English as TVPRA.
Under that classification, the agency transferred the child to the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), which is part of the Department of Health and Human Services.
A spokesperson for ICE justified the measure, stating that it acted "out of caution and to ensure the child's safety," although the agency did not allege any abuse or illegal behavior on the part of the uncle.
Cody Petterson, a member of the SDUSD board of directors, informed ABC News that the uncle was listed in the child's school records as an authorized caregiver.
Guerline Jozef, executive director of the nonprofit organization Haitian Bridge Alliance, strongly challenged the decision, stating that the father never had the chance to formalize custody before being deported: “They did not give the father the opportunity to establish the child's legal custody.”
Jozef also rejected the argument that the minor needed protection: "He was very well dressed and well cared for. There is absolutely no reason to separate him from his family's care without following the proper procedures, fully knowing that ICE has already deported the father."
The activist described the arrest as "a pretext to remove the child and potentially subject him to deportation proceedings."
The SDUSD sent a three-page letter to federal authorities demanding the return of the minor to his uncle and changes to immigration policies so that children do not lose access to education. "Children should not lose access to education simply due to the circumstances happening around them," the district stated. The school also sent crisis counselors to Fay Elementary to support the child's peers.
The case is set against the backdrop of the vulnerable situation faced by approximately 350,000 Haitians in the United States following the end of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti, which expired on July 27, 2026, after the Supreme Court authorized it with a vote of six to three.
The boy had lost his TPS at the beginning of this year. Human rights organizations had warned about the accelerated expulsion of minors in federal custody in the context of the immigration policies of the Trump administration.
At the time of this report, the minor remained in the custody of ORR, and it was unclear whether he would be reunited with his family, released under sponsorship, or subjected to a deportation process.
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