A 7-year-old girl along with her mother Martha, and 19-year-old brother, Manuel, are being detained by ICE after what was supposed to be a routine immigration check-in at Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan.
Local leaders are now coming to their aid.
"What has this country come to that we are separating children from their families?" said NYC Councilmember Shekar Krishnan.
The mother and the young child were then transferred to Texas. The 19-year-old brother is in detention in New Jersey.
The Jackson Heights family is originally from Ecuador and the child is a student at PS 89Q in Elmhurst. She is believed to be at least the fourth public school student ICE has taken away in recent weeks.
There has been growing concern over the issue. Dozens gathered Friday night in support of Mamadou Diallo, a 20-year-old student at Brooklyn Frontiers High School. Originally from Guinea, Diallo was swept up by ICE agents when he showed up for his routine immigration hearing.
"No, I think it's very interesting that the president ran on a platform of going after criminals. But what we're seeing is the arrest of seven-year-olds and 19-year-olds and a mom simply was looking to give these children an opportunity for a better life. And so the things that they're saying and the things that they're doing are are not matching," said Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz.
Eyewitness News has yet to her back from the Department of Homeland Security regarding why Martha and her children were detained.
For now, city and state leaders say they are taking steps to figure out what immigration relief is available to the family.
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