6-Year-Old Girl, Family Detained By ICE After Immigration Hearing

NEW YORK CITY — A 6-year-old girl, her mother and her brother were detained by ICE following a routine immigration court appearance last week, a City Council member revealed.

“We are appalled and horrified by ICE detaining a 6-year-old student at PS 89 in Elmhurst, along with her 19-year-old brother and their mother, after they attended a mandated ICE check at 26 Federal Plaza earlier this week. ICE transferred the mother and daughter to Texas, leaving the 19-year-old brother alone at a detention center in NJ," Queens City Councilman Shekat Krishanan and Assemblywoman Catalina Rivera wrote in a joint statement on X.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security told NBC New York that the family had illegally entered the U.S. from Ecuador in 2022. They have all received final orders of removal from an immigration judge, the spokesperson told the outlet.

Krishanan said his office is in contact with the family and their legal counsel.

"We are fighting to get this family back together, and we will not stop until they are safely back to their community and home in Queens," he added.

Earlier this month, another city school student was detained by ICE after he attended an immigration hearing, Patch previously reported.

The student has been identified as 20-year-old Mamadou Diallo, according to City Council Member Lincoln Restler.

"ICE has taken another New York City public school student into custody. Mamadou Diallo was detained last week following a required court appearance. This is a scary and unacceptable escalation in ICE’s ongoing attempts to target asylum seekers and students," Restler wrote in a post on X.