Deportation of Young Child Highlights Controversy Over ICE Family Detentions

Last week, an Ecuadorian mother nervously arrived at a federal building in Lower Manhattan accompanied by her 6-year-old daughter and 19-year-old son for a compulsory appointment with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

During the meeting, ICE agents took custody of the mother, Martha, and her two children. The teenage son was transported to a detention facility across the river in New Jersey, while Martha and her young daughter were flown to a family detention center in Texas.

Exactly one week later, on Tuesday, Martha and her daughter were deported back to Ecuador, leaving behind two other children in New York who had not been detained.

The detention and deportation of this family, particularly the 6-year-old girl, sparked a strong reaction among New York officials, marking one of the few instances during the current administration’s term that ICE actions have drawn such attention. Their arrest triggered urgent efforts to halt the deportation and drew a rare public condemnation from Governor Kathy Hochul, who described the action as "cruel and unjust."

This case sheds light on a broader practice reinstated nationwide: the detention and removal of families with children under immigration enforcement policies.

Although this family’s deportation was the first involving a parent and child to gain media attention in New York this year, numerous other families have faced similar fates recently.