Latest news with #TorranceElementary
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Torrance boy, 9, detained by ICE for planned deportation to Honduras; community outraged
Earlier this week, residents in Torrance were scrambling to find out what happened to 9-year-old Martir Garcia Lara, a fourth-grader at Torrance Elementary School. One day, he simply didn't show up for school. Teachers and PTA officials believed he was being held at a federal immigration facility with his father but could not get firm answers. Federal officials confirmed Thursday the boy and his father were taken into custody May 29 after checking in with federal officials in downtown Los Angeles. The two were transferred to an immigration facility in Texas the following day, and officials plan to deport them to Honduras. Parents with Torrance Elementary's PTA sent out a letter asking residents to reach out to elected officials to drum up support for the boy. The PTA had few answers, but was committed to making sure the public was aware that he was missing from their community. Read more: Feds arrest 36 Chinese, Taiwanese citizens in SoCal underground nightclub raid "We're all searching for answers," Torrance Elementary PTA volunteer Ria Villanueva told The Times. "When something like this happens, it shakes all of us in the community. There's not a child at our school that we don't treat as our own." The detention is the latest in a string of high-profile immigration enforcement actions over the last week, part of Trump's promised deportation crackdown. A few days ago, immigration agents raided a popular San Diego restaurant and made arrests, sparking a standoff with outraged residents. Agents also arrested Chinese and Taiwanese nationals at an underground nightclub in the Los Angeles area. The boy accompanied his father, Martir Garcia-Benegas, 50, to an immigration court facility in downtown Los Angeles on May 29, according to a statement from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Garcia-Benegas arrived in the United States on July 10, 2021, with his son. But an immigration judge ordered both the father and son to be deported to Honduras on Sept. 1, 2022. The father appealed the decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals on Aug. 11, 2023, but the appeal was dismissed. The two did not leave the country as ordered by the immigration judge, according to ICE spokesperson Monica Yoas. Federal officials referred to the boy as Martin Issac Garcia-Benegas, but Torrance Elementary knows him as Martir Garcia Lara. He has attended the school since first grade, according to Villanueva, the PTA volunteer. The boy's story was first reported by news station KTLA. Read more: ICE agents with assault rifles toss flash-bangs in trendy San Diego neighborhood. Community fights back A spokesperson with Torrance Unified School District said they are aware of the news story, but could not confirm the details. They were communicating with relatives of the father and son and authorities to better understand the situation, district spokesperson Sara Myers said in an email on Wednesday. "Out of respect for the student's privacy and to avoid spreading unverified information, we are not able to share any further information at this time," Myers said. "We remain committed to the safety and well-being of all our students and will continue to follow proper protocols as more information becomes available." After they were detained by officials in Los Angeles, the father and son were transferred to the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Dilley, Texas. It was not immediately clear if they had legal representation. Courthouses across the country have become the latest target of Trump's immigration crackdown, where federal agents have been deployed to arrest individuals after they make their scheduled appearances before an immigration judge. Often those immigrants have been here less than two years, and attorneys from the Department of Homeland Security ask to dismiss the case from deportation proceedings. When the judge grants the request, immigrants who leave the court have been met by plainclothes federal agents who take them into custody for expedited removal. In Santa Ana and Los Angeles, those agents wore masks, surrounded migrants as they came out of court and often left family members watching distraught and in tears. Their attorneys and advocates say agents are targeting the people that are doing exactly as the government asked. Most have no criminal records, and many have children in the United States. 'They are doing everything that we ask them to, and yet are still being detained and expeditely removed from the U.S.," said Melissa Shepard, director of legal services at Immigrant Defenders Law Center. 'It's causing a lot of confusion. Folks are really fearful.' Half of California's 9 million children are part of immigrant families, with most being U.S. citizens, according to a study from UCLA. Times staff writer Rachel Uranga contributed to this report. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Torrance boy, 9, detained by ICE with plans to deport him to Honduras; community outraged
Earlier this week, residents in Torrance were scrambling for answers to find out what happened to 9-year-old Martir Garcia Lara, a fourth-grader at Torrance Elementary School. One day, he simply didn't show up for school. Teachers and PTA officials believed he was being held at a federal immigration facility with his father but could not get firm answers. Federal officials confirmed Thursday the boy and his father were taken into custody on May 29 after checking-in with federal officials in downtown Los Angeles. The two were transferred to an immigration facility in Texas the following day and officials plan to deport them to Honduras. Parents with Torrance Elementary's PTA sent out a letter asking residents to reach out to elected officials to drum up support for the boy. The PTA had few answers, but were committed to making sure the public was aware that he was missing from their community. 'We're all searching for answers,' Torrance Elementary PTA volunteer Ria Villanueva told The Times. 'When something like this happens, it shakes all of us in the community. There's not a child at our school that we don't treat as our own.' The detention is the latest in a string of high-profile immigration enforcement actions over the last week, part of Trump's promised deportation crackdown. A few days ago, immigration agents raided a popular San Diego restaurant and made arrests, sparking a standoff with outraged residents. Agents also arrested Chinese and Taiwanese nationals at an underground nightclub in the Los Angeles area. The boy accompanied his father, Martir Garcia-Benegas, 50, to an immigration court facility in downtown Los Angeles on May 29, according to a statement from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Garcia-Benegas arrived in the United States on July 10, 2021 with his son. But an immigration judge ordered both the father and son to be deported to Honduras on Sept. 1, 2022. The father appealed the decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals on Aug. 11, 2023 but the appeal was dismissed. The two did not leave the country as ordered by the immigration judge, according to ICE spokesperson Monica Yoas. Federal officials referred to the boy as Martin Issac Garcia-Benegas, but Torrance Elementary know him as Martir Garcia Lara. He has attended Torrance Elementary school since the first grade, according Villanueva, the PTA volunteer. The boy's story was first reported by news station KTLA. A spokesperson with Torrance Unified School District said they are aware of the news story, but could not confirm the details. They were communicating with relatives of the father and son and authorities to better understand the situation, district spokesperson Sara Myers said in an email on Wednesday. 'Out of respect for the student's privacy and to avoid spreading unverified information, we are not able to share any further information at this time,' Myers said. 'We remain committed to the safety and well-being of all our students and will continue to follow proper protocols as more information becomes available.' After they were detained by officials in Los Angeles, the father and son were transferred to the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Dilley, Tex. It was not immediately clear if they had legal representation. Courthouses across the country have become the latest target of Trump's immigration crackdown, where federal agents have been deployed to arrest individuals after they make their scheduled appearances before an immigration judge. Often those immigrants have been here less than two years and attorneys from the Department of Homeland Security ask to dismiss the case from deportation proceedings. When the judge grants the request, immigrants who leave the court have been met by plainclothes federal agents who take them into custody for expedited removal. In Santa Ana and Los Angeles, those agents were masked, surrounded migrants as they came out of court and often left family members watching distraught and in tears. Their attorneys and advocates say agents are targeting the people that are doing exactly as the government asked. Most have no criminal records and many have children in the United States. 'They are doing everything that we ask them to, and yet are still being detained and expeditely removed from the U.S.,' said Melissa Shepard, director of legal services at Immigrant Defenders Law Center. 'It's causing a lot of confusion. Folks are really fearful.' Half of California's 9 million children are part of immigrant families, with most being U.S. citizens, according to a study from UCLA. Los Angeles Times staff reporter Rachel Uranga contributed to this report.
The Independent
4 days ago
- General
- The Independent
Outrage after California fourth grader is detained by ICE agents during immigration hearing
California are urgently asking for help to find a fourth grader who is being 'held captive' by immigration authorities in Texas. Torrance Elementary School student Martir Garcia Lara attended an immigration court appointment with his father in Houston on May 29 'when suddenly they were detained and separated from each other,' according to a message from the school's Parent Teacher Association. The boy and his father are reportedly in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody. 'He's alone and he's not able to return home,' PTA president Jasmin King told KTLA. 'We have not received any information on why they were detained,' she said. 'All we know is that Martir is just a fourth grader who's by himself, without his dad, without a parent, and just in a place that he probably doesn't know, so we can only imagine what he might be feeling.' The Independent has requested comment from ICE and school officials. Federal authorities have taken roughly 500 children into government custody since President Donald Trump took office, according to CNN. Those children were either in homes considered to be unsafe or because the government arrested their family members or placed them in removal proceedings. The boy's alleged arrest follows a wave of immigration enforcement actions inside courthouses across the country in recent weeks, with masked officers from as many as 20 different law enforcement agencies patrolling entrances, lobbies and hallways to arrest immigrants moments after their scheduled hearings and appointments. Courthouse operations and arrests at other immigration offices have been reported in more than a dozen cities, which advocacy groups and immigration attorneys have labelled a 'dragnet' operation sweeping up immigrants who are following the law. In New York City, protests erupted after ICE arrested a high school student seeking asylum during his court appearance and after federal agents swarmed a Manhattan immigration office, where officers also arrested a congressional staffer. Similar operations have been reported across the country, from Seattle and Los Angeles to Phoenix and Miami. After taking office, the president issued an executive order that greenlights fast-track deportation proceedings for immigrants who cannot prove that they have continuously lived in the United States for more than two years. That 'expedited removal' process — historically used at the U.S.-Mexico border — is now being expanded across the country. The American Civil Liberties Union sued to block the measure, arguing people seeking asylum 'would get less due process contesting their deportation than they would contesting a traffic ticket.' The American Immigration Lawyers Association says courthouse arrests are a 'flagrant betrayal of basic fairness and due process' for people who are simply following the rules. 'Immigration courts are being weaponized, judges are coordinating with ICE to dismiss cases and immediately funnel individuals into the fast-track deportation pipeline known as expedited removal,' the group said in a statement. 'These are not fugitives. They are individuals, many who are seeking protection from torture in their countries, complying with the law.' The group has collected dozens of reports from immigration attorneys whose clients were immediately arrested after their court appearances only to be placed into expedited removal proceedings where they can be rapidly deported without an opportunity to appear before a judge. Detainees include immigrants of all ages, including families with young children and toddlers as young as two and three years old, according to the group's analysis of recent arrests. In at least one case, ICE agents detained children who were in court with their parents and attempted to arrest a mother with a nursing infant, the report found. 'These arrests appear not to be based on a need to detain individuals due to concerns over them being a flight or public safety risk,' according to the group. 'This raises serious due process concerns as these chaotic detentions will likely make people, who are otherwise trying to comply with the law, scared to appear for their court hearings.'
