San Diego school officials push back after Haitian boy, 8, is taken during ICE check

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An 8-year-old Haitian boy was placed in federal custody after an immigration check-in on Nov. 5.

The Department of Homeland Security said the boy was with a man who identified himself as his uncle but could not provide proof that he was the legal guardian, prompting federal agents to take the boy into their care.

The San Diego Unified School District superintendent wrote a letter to top immigration and health officials highlighting the boy’s case as one of many that are affecting children and families in San Diego County.

An 8-year-old Haitian boy who lost protected status earlier this year was placed in federal custody after an immigration check-in last week in San Diego, according to federal and school district officials.

The boy, who has not been publicly identified, was placed in the government’s custody during a routine check-in on Nov. 5, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.

The spokesperson said a man who showed up with the boy that day identified himself as his uncle but could not establish legal guardianship, prompting agents to take the child into their care under the Trafficking Victims Protection Authorization Act, a law that requires unaccompanied minors without a parent or legal guardian be transferred to the custody of the federal government.

“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 statement read.

The spokesperson said the boy was brought into the U.S. with a man who identified himself as the father.

“His father has never been in ICE custody and was previously removed to Mexico” by Border Patrol, the spokesperson wrote in the statement. It is not clear why the boy’s father was deported to Mexico.

San Diego Unified School District officials highlighted the boy’s case in a Nov. 6 letter to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

San Diego County Supt. Fabi Bagula wrote in the letter that the boy is a third-grader at Fay Elementary School and is among the many children and families whose education and well-being have been affected by revocation of their temporary protected status.

The Trump administration ended protected status for 350,000 Haitians last year. A federal district judge temporarily blocked the action for nearly five months before the Supreme Court upheld the Trump order in June, allowing for the removal of hundreds of thousands of Haitians in Los Angeles and San Diego.

In her letter, Bagula explained that when families are separated, displaced, detained or removed from their communities, schools are often left to respond to the resulting trauma and educational disruption.

“These circumstances place children at significant risk of academic regression, mental health challenges and long-term instability,” Bagula wrote.

She wrote that the boy’s uncle was distraught and that the boy now had to endure the emotional toll of being separated from his family, the interruption of his schooling and the loss of stability in his daily routine. The school district also had to send crisis counselors to the boy’s school because other students had expressed concern their classmate.

Bagula demanded that the federal government “change its policies and procedures affecting school-aged children who enter government custody or placement.”

She said at a minimum, greater consideration should be given to the educational continuity of those students and provided a set of recommendations including working more closely with school districts and keeping students in government custody closer to their communities.

“Whenever feasible, place children with approved relatives, foster families, or temporary care providers located within the attendance area of their existing schools,” she wrote.

The letter was signed by school district members, unions representing thousands of teachers, school aides and administrators, as well as San Diego Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera.