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Mother and 6-year-old daughter from Queens deported by ICE latest
The family was deported back to Ecuador after a routine immigration check in.
NEW YORK - ICE has dramatically ramped up deportations under President Trump’s immigration crackdown, conducting dozens of arrests across New York City as part of a sweeping enforcement push.
Now, officials say the youngest known detainee in New York City, a 6-year-old girl from Queens, has been deported to Ecuador with her mother, sparking outrage from immigrant advocates and Governor Kathy Hochul.
The backstory:
The pair had been living in Jackson Heights since crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in Dec. 2022 and had sought asylum, according to advocates. The child, enrolled at P.S. 89 in Elmhurst, was set to return to school in less than two weeks.
Where are they?
Instead, after a routine immigration check-in at 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan earlier this month, the mother and daughter were detained, transferred to a Texas facility, and then flown to Ecuador on Monday.
The girl’s adult brother remains in federal custody at the Hudson County Correctional Facility in Newark, according to officials.
What they're saying:
New York City Schools Chancellor Melissa Avilés-Ramos called the deportation "heartbreaking," adding that "no child or family should be uprooted from their community or feel forced to hide in the shadows." She assured families that schools are safe spaces and that staff are prepared to connect immigrant families with legal resources.
Hochul condemned the decision in a video statement, describing the deportation as "cruel." She took aim at the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, which has intensified removals in recent weeks.
"This is cruel and I say to those who did this, where is your humanity?" Hochul said. "President Trump, you said you were going after the worst of the worst. Do you think she’s really the worst of the worst?"
According to immigrant advocates, the 6-year-old is the first known child under 18 in New York City to be deported during the president’s renewed enforcement push. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told USA Today that the family had received final removal orders from an immigration judge.
The Source: This report is based on information from New York Governor Kathy Hochul.