Haitian Boy, 8, Taken Into ICE Custody in San Diego; Whereabouts Unclear
Federal immigration authorities took an 8-year-old Haitian boy into custody in San Diego on November 4, 2026. As of this week, a California congressman working on the case said the third-grader's whereabouts were unknown, and that he was trying to reunite the boy with his loved ones.
The boy's family said he had been summoned to what they described as a routine immigration appointment. According to NBC News, a letter had told him to meet with officers of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the federal agency that enforces immigration law. The meeting took place at San Diego's federal building. Video obtained by NBC News shows three armed officials leading the boy away. A volunteer observer of immigration proceedings recorded the footage at ICE's San Diego field office.
The boy's uncle took him to the appointment because he did not want to break the law, according to the same report. The boy had lost his protections in the summer of 2026, after a Supreme Court decision allowed President Donald Trump to end Temporary Protected Status for Haitians. That status, which was created after Haiti's 2010 earthquake, had shielded hundreds of thousands of Haitians from deportation.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said ICE took the child into custody "out of an abundance of caution and to ensure the child's safety." DHS said the boy lacked legal immigration status and had been brought to the United States by his father, who was then deported to Mexico by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. DHS also said the uncle could not prove legal guardianship, and that federal anti-trafficking laws required officials to place the boy in care as an "unaccompanied alien child." DHS told NBC San Diego that ICE officers could not confirm that the man who brought the boy to the check-in was related to him.
The Haitian Bridge Alliance, an advocacy group, said the boy had been living with his uncle and cousins after his father was deported last year. Its executive director, Guerline Jozef, said the boy was transferred to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), a federal office that handles children in immigration cases, after being taken into custody.
The boy attends Fay Elementary School in San Diego. The board and superintendent of the San Diego Unified School District wrote to ICE about the case and about the end of Temporary Protected Status safeguards for Haitians. District officials also sent a letter on Friday to DHS and the Department of Health and Human Services.
On Tuesday, four California lawmakers and two senators asked the federal government to confirm the boy's whereabouts and whether his family knows where he is.
