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The San Diego Unified School District and leaders from the Southern California region demanded answers from the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, after federal authorities took an 8-year-old Haitian boy into custody during an immigration check-in appointment last Wednesday.
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The minor is a third-grader at Fay Elementary School in City Heights, a neighborhood in San Diego County, where he lived with his uncle after his father was deported last year.
He was covered by Temporary Protected Status (TPS), but he lost it on July 27, when that protection for Haitians ended following a Supreme Court ruling that upheld its elimination by the Trump administration.
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According to school authorities, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sent a summons in the child's name to appear for a check-in appointment last Wednesday.
The uncle took the boy to the appointment and, once there, an ICE agent used a 2008 human trafficking law as the basis to place the minor in federal custody.
“This left the uncle in anguish and the eight-year-old without the support of his family, his community, and his school,” the district said in a letter sent to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin.
The minor was transferred to a federal facility managed by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR).
ICE stated that the uncle could not establish legal guardianship under federal law, so the minor was removed and placed under the care of the ORR, according to a statement cited by ABC.
School authorities emphasized that, while awaiting the family reunification process, the child is enduring the emotional toll of family separation, the disruption of his education, and the loss of stability in his daily routine.
“Children should not lose access to education simply due to the circumstances surrounding them,” indicated school and community leaders, who demanded that the DHS modify the policies and procedures that affect school-age children who are taken into custody or relocated by the government.
“At a minimum, greater attention must be paid to the educational continuity of these students.”
Wister Gaetan, co-founder of the Haitian Bridge Alliance organization, told the television station that the minor's father's deportation occurred when he accidentally entered Mexican territory. EFE
[Publicidad]