LatinoJustice Condemns ICE Targeting of NYC Family, Including a Seven-Year-Old Child
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 18, 2025
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LatinoJustice Condemns ICE Targeting of NYC Family, Including a Seven-Year-Old Child
New York, NY – According to press reports, a seven-year-old New York City public school student at PS 89Q, The Jose Peralta School of Dreamers in Queens, along with her mother Martha, and her 19-year-old brother, Manuel, were detained by ICE when they went to a routine immigration check-in at 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan.
The young child Dayra and her mother were then transferred to a detention center in Texas, and her 19-year-old brother was sent to a detention in New Jersey. This is the youngest-known school-age child in New York to be detained in this administration and it's the fourth public school student ICE has snatched in recent weeks.
The following statement can be attributed to Rex Chen, Supervising Counsel for Immigrant Rights of LatinoJustice PRLDEF:
“The latest detention of a Jackson Heights family, including a seven-year-old, is a devastating reminder of how ICE’s actions are targeting immigrant families, separating loved ones, and depriving them of their most basic rights when simply trying to follow the law.
“Instead of being met with fairness and dignity, this family was torn apart. No child should have to endure the trauma of being ripped from her home, her school, and her community. This is a cruel and deliberate tactic creating more fear and terror for our immigrant families. LatinoJustice calls on ICE to immediately release this family. Children belong in classrooms and playgrounds, not detention centers.”
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About LatinoJustice
LatinoJustice PRLDEF works to create a more just society by using and challenging the rule of law to secure transformative, equitable and accessible justice, by empowering our community and by fostering leadership through advocacy and education. For over 50 years, LatinoJustice PRLDEF has acted as an advocate against injustices throughout the country. To learn more about LatinoJustice, visit www.LatinoJustice.org