ICE Takes 8-Year-Old Haitian Boy Into Custody in San Diego

An eight-year-old Haitian boy in San Diego, California, was taken into federal custody on November 4 after attending a scheduled immigration appointment with his uncle.

The third-grade student at Fay Elementary School in the City Heights neighbourhood had been living with his uncle and cousins after his father was deported to Mexico more than a year ago, the San Diego Unified School District reported. His uncle accompanied him to meet with an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer to avoid disregarding immigration authorities’ instructions, but the child was taken into custody.

The Department of Homeland Security defended the action by stating that the uncle could not establish legal guardianship and was not recognized as part of either family unit the child had previously lived with. ICE classified the boy as an unaccompanied minor, transferring him to the care of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement.

School officials disputed those circumstances, noting that school records list the uncle as an authorized caregiver. On November 6, the school district, local officials, and education unions sent a letter to the Secretaries of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services requesting the boy’s release to his family and greater consideration for educational continuity.

The child previously benefited from Temporary Protected Status, a humanitarian immigration program that allowed eligible Haitians to live and work legally in the United States. Following the Trump administration’s choice to cancel the designation, this safety measure expired for Haitians on July 27, 2026.

Figures referenced by USA TODAY show that over 8,000 minors were taken into custody and detained by immigration officials from January 2025 through July 2026. As of November 5, approximately 1,620 children were held in the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services as unaccompanied minors.