The South Bay student was detained, along with his father, during an immigration hearing on May 29, according to federal authorities.
Posted Thu, Jun 5, 2025 at 11:21 am PT
TORRANCE, CA — A South Bay student who was detained by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with his father, last month, is expected to be deported, according to federal authorities.
The nine-year-old boy, Martir Garcia, traveled with his father to Houston, Texas, for an immigration hearing last month. They were expecting an update on his father's immigration status, but they were detained and separated instead, according to the report.
An ICE spokesperson told Patch that Garcia and his father, traveling from Honduras, entered the U.S. illegally on July 10, 2021. After an immigration judge ordered the nine-year-old and his father to be deported in 2022, they appealed the decision, according to ICE.
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The Board of Immigration Appeals, however, dismissed their plea, according to ICE.
Find out what's happening in Redondo Beachfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
"The family unit failed to leave the U.S. as instructed by the immigration judge's order," the ICE spokesperson told Patch, adding that they were taken into custody on May 29. "They exhausted due process and (have) no legal remedies left to pursue."
The family unit is currently at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Dilley, Texas, "pending removal to Honduras," an ICE spokesperson said.
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The nine-year-old was living in Southern California and attending Torrance Elementary School before being detained.
His detention alarmed his teachers, who reached out to the school's PTA to rally support for the child. PTA and community members have since been lobbying for help from federal, state and local leaders to free the boy, The Hill reported.
“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,” the Torrance Unified School District announced in a statement to The Independent.
Angelica Zacarías, a local mother, told Univision that she is concerned about the lasting impacts this will have on the fourth-grader
"Psychologically, he's damaged for life; these are memories that you don't forget," she said in Spanish. "It's horrible that the government is acting like this against immigrants because we are all immigrants."
Antonio Sánchez, who has been friends with the nine-year-old's father for seven years, told Univision in a Spanish language interview that local parents have been trying to show support and want to speak with their friend, but haven't been allowed to.
"We've talked with immigration, but they say they don't have any information — to see if they're going to let him go," Sánchez told Univision.
According to CNN, Federal authorities have detained about 500 children since President Donald Trump took office.
A 4-year-old Mexican girl who receives lifesaving medical care from a Southern California hospital was granted permission to remain in the country weeks after federal authorities said she could be deported, her family's attorneys said Tuesday.
The girl’s family said they were notified in April and May that their humanitarian parole was being revoked and they would be subject to potential deportation. They said the child likely could not survive if she were deported.
Her case was one of several humanitarian parolees granted temporary legal status under former President Joe Biden that the Trump Administration is revoking.
ICE added that the U.S. government is offering anyone living in the country illegally $1,000 and a free flight to self-deport through the Customs and Border Protection app.
"We encourage every person here illegally to take advantage of this offer and reserve the chance to come back to the U.S. the right legal way to live American dream (sic)," a spokesperson with ICE said. "If not, you will be arrested and deported without a chance to return."