8-year-old Haitian boy placed in federal custody alone after ICE check-in, advocates say

An 8-year-old Haitian boy who lost Temporary Protected Status earlier this year was taken into federal custody after an immigration check-in, according to local advocates and school officials.

The third grader, who attends Fay Elementary School in San Diego, was placed into government custody alone after attending an Immigration and Customs Enforcement appointment with his uncle on Thursday, according to his school district and an advocacy group. 

“The eight-year-old received a letter to meet with an ICE agent,” the San Diego Unified School District said in a letter to DHS. “His uncle, with whom he’s been living since the child’s father was deported more than a year ago, took him to meet the agent because he did not want to break the law.”

Advocates and school officials said the boy had been living with his uncle and cousins after his father was deported to Mexico last year.

"They did not give the father the opportunity or chance to actually put in place legal guardianship for the kid," said Guerline Jozef, the executive director of the nonprofit Haitian Bridge Alliance.

Cody Petterson, a board trustee with the SDUSD, told ABC News the uncle was designated on school records as an authorized caregiver.

A spokesperson for ICE told ABC News in a statement that because the uncle could not establish legal guardianship, agents treated the 8-year-old as an unaccompanied child under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, a federal law that provides protections for unaccompanied immigrant children.

The agency did not allege any wrongdoing or abuse by the uncle, but invoked the law to mandate the child's transfer after designating him as an unaccompanied minor.

"Out of an abundance of caution and to ensure the child’s safety, ICE determined it was best to remove the child from the household and place him in the care of the Office of Refugee Resettlement," the spokesperson said.

According to the school district and an advocacy group, the 8-year-old remains in ORR custody. It is unclear if he will be removed from the U.S.

Jozef called the detention "an excuse for [ICE] to remove the child and potentially put him in deportation proceedings.”

“He was dressed very well, and he is very well cared for,” Jozef added. “There's absolutely no reason for them to remove him from the care of his relatives without putting in place proper procedures for him, knowing very well that ICE already deported the father.”

In the letter to DHS, San Diego Unified School District officials said they have “witnessed situations in which children who should be attending school and participating in a supportive educational environment instead find themselves in government facilities.”

“Children should not lose access to education simply because of circumstances unfolding around them,” the district said.