NEW YORK − A 6-year-old student and her family were deported just before the start of the new school year in New York, a case sparking uproar across the state − including from the governor and officials in the nation's largest public school system.
The second-grade New York City public school student went with her mother and older brother on Aug. 12 to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement check-in at a federal building in lower Manhattan when agents detained them, a family lawyer told USA TODAY. New York City officials confirmed the student and her mother, who were living in Queens, were deported the morning of Aug. 19.
The Ecuadorian family, who sought asylum in the country after arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border in December 2022, were among migrants detained in controversial tactics by the Trump administration while people attend routine immigration court hearings or ICE check-ins.
New York City schools saw increased enrollment driven, in part, by families who had sought asylum during the Biden administration. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul weighed in on the family’s behalf, and school officials are working to assure students that schools will remain a welcoming place.
“She had no power to decide which country she would be living,” said Astrid Avedissian, a lawyer for one of the student's siblings, who is 16. "She had no power to decide which border she would be crossing."
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The student's mother, Martha, consistently attended check-ins after a deportation order was issued in June 2024 after her family's asylum application was denied, Avedissian said. USA TODAY is not releasing their full names out of concern for their safety. Avedissian's teenage client escaped abuse in her home country. Their native Ecuador has seen a surge in violence.
Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE, said Martha and two of her children “all received final orders of removal from an immigration judge.”
“Parents, who are here illegally, can take control of their departure with the CBP Home App,” McLaughlin said in a statement, referring to the repurposed application that allows people to leave the country.
On Aug. 19, New York City Councilmember Shekar Krishnan and state Assemblymember Catalina Cruz, both representatives in Queens, confirmed the student and her mother were deported. ICE records show her brother, Manuel, 19, is still in custody.
"Deporting a 6-year-old child two weeks before she is supposed to start school, separating her and her mother from their family, is cruel," Krishnan and Cruz said in a joint statement. "It is a shameful stain on our country's history and conscience."
Detained at check-in, family now separated across states
On Aug. 12, the student's mother, Martha, had taken two of her four children to the hearing after being requested to do so by agents the day before, Avedissian said. Two weeks earlier, Martha had already been fitted with an ankle monitor, Avedissian said. (DHS didn’t respond to questions about this tactic.)
After they arrived, agents detained Martha and her two children, the 6-year-old student and Manuel, 19. Agents sent Martha and the student to the newly reopened South Texas Family Residential Center, a privately run family detention facility in Dilley, Texas.
Manuel, who recently graduated from high school, was held for two days in the federal building, which has been the subject of a lawsuit for the conditions migrants have been subjected to in a temporary holding area. Since Aug. 14, he has been held in Delaney Hall, a privately run adult detention center in nearby Newark, New Jersey, that has also faced scrutiny for its conditions.
The children have a pending application with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for Special Immigrant Juvenile status for those under 21 who face abuse, abandonment, or neglect, Avedissian said. They received orders from Queens County Family Court in April that effectively made Martha their sole guardian, and allowed them to apply for the juvenile status since reunification with their father wouldn’t be possible, Avedissian said.
DHS didn't respond to questions about their pending application.
While Martha and her two children were detained, she has two other children, a 16-year-old daughter who is now being taken care of by her 21-year-old son, Avedissian said.
NYC: 'Our schools are safe, welcoming places'
The principal at the student's school at P.S. 89, the Jose Peralta School for DREAMers, has called for the girl's release.
“Her unexpected removal will cause significant disruption to her learning and will likely have a deep emotional impact on her classmates and our entire school community,” Principal Laura La Sala said in an Aug. 14 letter to ICE. “She belongs with her family and her classmates, where she can continue learning and growing.”
The elementary school touts its diverse student population in the immigrant Elmhurst neighborhood of Queens, according to its website. “Alone we are great," the school's website states. "Together we are better.” Nearly half of its students are English language learners, and more than 90% are classified as economically disadvantaged, state data showed.
After years of declining enrollment, city public schools saw more students due to the influx of migrant families seeking asylum in the United States, often bused by Republican-led states to New York. Since President Donald Trump took office, a few students have been detained, beginning this summer.
In a statement, Nicole Brownstein, a New York City Public Schools spokesperson, said the district stands with all of its students. When a family is detained, the district connects them with legal support and other resources.
"We want to reassure all families: our schools are safe, welcoming places, and we encourage you to continue sending your children to school, where they are cared for and valued," Brownstein said.
Naveed Hasan, a member of the city's Public Schools Panel for Educational Policy, which oversees the school district, said her family’s case reaffirms fears about students and families targeted by immigration enforcement.
“The potential for losing access to your child, or for children to not see their parents because they got detained on the streets of New York City, is very real,” he said. “That’s been affecting everything.”
The issues only appear to be worsening, which could affect student attendance and enrollment, he said.
Hochul had called for the immediate return of the student and her family to New York.
“Instead of preparing her daughter for school, this mother and her daughter have been separated from their family and sent to a facility in Texas,” Hochul said in an Aug. 18 statement.
The next day, the student and her mother were deported. The first day of school in New York City is Sept. 4.
Eduardo Cuevas is based in New York City. Reach him by email at [email protected] or on Signal at emcuevas.01.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NYC student, 6, deported by ICE before school year starts
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