ICE, School District Give Conflicting Accounts of Child’s Detainment

“When I was in the neighborhood where the school dropoffs happened nearby my house, and I heard honking and whistling. And I saw several vehicles kind of blocking half the road, and I saw a man standing by a running vehicle in a driveway being detained. And then I heard a neighbor say, ‘There’s a kid.’ And my heart just dropped.” “When officers approached Conejo Arias, he and his child were in a vehicle. Arias fled from law enforcement on foot, abandoning his child in the middle of winter.” “One of our 17-year-old students, who was taken when she cracked open the door, the agents pushed their way in, and then apprehended the child and whoever was also in the apartment. So it’s been unfortunately, over the last few weeks, pretty common knowledge about not opening doors.” “Tragically, when we approached the door of his residence, the people inside refused to take him in and open the door. Fortunately, Conejo Arias eventually requested that his child stay with him.” Liam and his dad did enter the United States at a port of entry to seek asylum through the C.B.P. One app. So they did everything right when they came in. They’ve shared all of their information with the government and they were following the process. They were just trying to secure safety and persecution for their family from their home country. But ICE didn’t care about the fact that they had those pending claims and then just arrested them.”