The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has denied accusations that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) used a 5-year-old girl as “bait” to force her father’s surrender outside a home in Leominster, Massachusetts.
Why It Matters
President Donald Trump ordered his administration to carry out plans to remove millions of undocumented immigrants as part of what critics describe as an aggressive deportation policy. The Republicans’ flagship mass deportation policy has faced increased scrutiny because of the conduct of ICE agents.
What To Know
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for DHS, told Newsweek that the allegations are a “disgusting smear,” adding that ICE agents “never used a 5-year-old girl as ‘bait.’”
Footage obtained by Telemundo Nueva Inglaterra shows a young child, whom her mother says is autistic, seated beside an SUV outside the family’s house, while several agents stand nearby, during an operation to apprehend her father.
The child’s mother is heard in the video saying, “They took my daughter … She is 5-years-old. She has autism spectrum.”
The father, Edwards Hip Mejia, told his wife during a drive home that he believed he was being followed, according to Telemundo. The video appears to show agents communicating with Mejia through or near the doorway of his house. At one point, an agent is heard asking, “Is that your daughter? Come here so I can see those IDs.” Mejia responds that he can show the IDs through the door.
Newsweek contacted the family for comment via GoFundMe on Tuesday.
McLaughlin said Mejia had prior arrests for domestic abuse, strangulation and vandalism, and claimed that during the incident, he abandoned his child in a car.
McLaughlin added that Mejia ignored emergency lights when ordered to pull over, fled to his house, and then left the child behind.
“The target, Edwards Hip Mejia, ignored law enforcement emergency lights to pull over and drove back to his house. He fled from the car, gave officers the double middle finger, and darted inside his house. He abandoned the 5-year-old daughter in the car,” McLaughlin said.
“Officers helped rescue the child and called local police to report the abandonment,” she added.
DHS said Mejia was arrested two days later and he remains in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.
The agency added that Mejia entered the country unlawfully in 2000.
Mejia is originally from Guatemala and has lived in the United States for roughly 25 years, according to his wife, who spoke with NBC Boston on the condition that her name not be published. She told the outlet that the couple has two children who were born in the U.S.
What People Are Saying
Edwards Hip Mejia’s wife told Telemundo: “Officers came out behind my house, arrested him, took him away.”
Tricia McLaughlin told Newsweek: “He abandoned the 5-year-old daughter in the car.”
Mejia’s wife wrote on GoFundMe: “Since Edwards was detained, I have been unable to leave our home. Our house is surrounded, and I am afraid to take my children to school or even to the doctor if they get sick.”
What Happens Next
Mejia is being held in the Plymouth County Correctional Facility, according to the ICE detainee database. He will remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.
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