A Bridgeport student and his father were stopped by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers at a school bus stop last Friday.
State Rep. Christopher Rosario, D-Bridgeport, got a call about the incident, as it was unfolding.
“I got a call that morning around 7:30 a.m. from Maria Matos from the Alliance for Connecticut Charter Schools,” he said, “I immediately tried to get as much information as I could.”
As his own teenage daughter was headed to school in the district, Rosario was told another 16-year-old and his father were reportedly being detained. The father and son were waiting in their car for the school bus.
“As the bus was getting there, the child got out, and I guess when the doors opened on the car, that's when they approached,” Rosario said.
In a statement to Connecticut Public, an ICE spokesperson said that agents arrested the father, who entered the United States illegally in May 2005, and an immigration judge ordered him removed in October that year.
“No student or U.S. citizen was ever detained,” ICE said.
The agency said agents allowed the father to contact his wife to pick up their son.
“Officers remained with the child to ensure his safety until his mother arrived,” ICE said.
They suggest immigrants in the country illegally use the CBP Home App that offers $2,600 and a free flight to those who choose to self-deport.
“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 the American dream,” the agency said. “If not, you will be arrested and deported without a chance to return.”
Elected officials and advocates respond
Meanwhile, Rosario called U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s office, which immediately got involved in tracking the student and his father.
“On Friday, our office reached out to ICE for more information about the father’s case, and we are assessing potential next steps,” Blumenthal told Connecticut Public in a statement.
Quickly, Rosario said, Bridgeport Police were on the scene Friday, and immigrant rights group Make the Road CT confirmed its rapid response team was deployed to aid the family afterward.
"We are deeply concerned about the recent uptick of ICE activity in Bridgeport over the past couple of weeks, including enforcement actions near City Hall, outside the courthouse and most recently, at a school bus stop,” said Mary Smith, Make the Road CT’s deputy director. “These actions are creating fear and instability in our communities, particularly among immigrant families who are simply trying to go about their daily lives.”
Make the Road CT said they are respecting the family’s privacy as they meet with attorneys.
“It's traumatizing,” Rosario said, “not just for the individual but for all the other children on the bus.”
The effects on Bridgeport’s Latinos
Rosario, a Bridgeport native, was born into a Puerto Rican family. Although everyone born in the U.S. territory is a citizen, Rosario says he has the same concerns as many immigrant Latino spouses and parents during the uptick in ICE activity.
“I think first and foremost as a father, as a husband, as someone who puts my child on the bus most mornings,” he said. “You know, the trauma that my daughter might have had if it was one of her classmates that was detained — someone that they go to school with, that they eat lunch with and have a relationship with.”
Rosario said he is worried about the chilling effect on other immigrant families in the area. The school district has already seen a drop in attendance in the year since the Trump administration began its immigration crackdown.
“There was a recent report about 700 children who never returned to Bridgeport Public Schools after ICE,” Rosario said. “I can imagine that that number is similar to what other cities and towns are facing, and it's probably going to get even deeper after this incident.”
Bridgeport Public Schools did not immediately release a message to students and families about the ICE activity.
“I was just thinking of those children on the bus,” Rosario said.
This story has been updated to include additional details from Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, and to clarify that a Make The Road CT rapid response team helped in the wake of the arrest.
