Second-grader arrested by federal law enforcement over holiday break
By Michael Cusanelli, Jackson Stoever
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WINOOSKI, Vermont (WPTZ) — A second-grade student and his mother from Winooski have been arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The 7-year-old boy and his mother were detained while traveling over the Thanksgiving holiday.
The Winooski School District found out about their detainment when the student did not show up for class on Monday. The school then called the boy’s father, who said he did not know where his family was, and that he had lost contact with them last week. He told the school that they had left to visit family out of state on Thursday. He lost contact with them on Friday.
The boy and his mother were on their way to visit family in Minnesota. They made it as far as Illinois. That is where they were detained. It is unclear why they were taken into custody or why they were stopped in the first place.
The family is originally from Ecuador. As for their legal status, the father was in the process of applying for asylum in the U.S.
Winooski has a “sanctuary school district,” which means the district does not inquire about immigration status.
They are currently being held together at a detention facility in Texas. The school district was able to make brief contact with them there, but the call dropped. They have not heard from them since.
Winooski School District Superintendent Wilmer Chavarria says this is the first time one of their students were detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. He is now calling for their release.
“We sort of already know what happens to detainees, whether they’re detained here or elsewhere, it’s all the same web,” said Chavarria. “Our families live in fear. I personally understand that. Many families do not have the privilege to go about their lives the same way most people can, to go to the grocery store, to go to school, to visit family without having this constant terror of being separated from your child.”
In a statement posted to the district’s social media page, Chavarria said, “Our second grader should be in his classroom, not in a detention cell.”
Chavarria is a native of Nicaragua and a naturalized American citizen. Earlier this year, he was held by immigration authorities in Houston while returning from a visit to family members overseas.
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