A video recorded at a federal immigration detention center in California has prompted questions about ICE’s practice of keeping families in custody during an appointment. The video captured a witness approaching the masked agents as they took custody of a mother and young child.
The incident allegedly took place on November 3 at the USCIS El Monte Application Support Center (ASC) in the City of Industry in Los Angeles County. The facility is where routine biometrics appointments are scheduled for immigration applicants to have their fingerprints, photographs, and signatures taken.
The video was shared on TikTok by @miaatlaw and later circulated on X, including through @LongTimeHistory. In the footage, a woman repeatedly asks agents why the 4-year-old has to go with his mother.
“Kid! That’s a kid! That’s a kid! That’s a kid! Why does he have to go with her? What are you doing? Are you proud of that? You just took a kid!” she shouts.
An ICE agent replies, “Yeah, we put him in with his mom. Stay back.” When the witness points out that the mother has also been detained, the agent says, “Yes. We’re doing our job.”
The woman filming then references the Perdomo-Vasquez injunction and says the family has a right to an attorney. “It was a family friend, dude. It was a family friend,” she says, before demanding to know where the agents are taking the mother and child.
The caption attached to the video said the mother was on her way to a biometrics appointment as part of an immigration or asylum case. The family friend was prepared to watch the boy, but the agents detained him along with his mother.
An X account using the name 自由鳥 (@standwithfree) claimed on November 5 that an attorney had filed a habeas corpus petition on the child’s behalf. The account also alleged that ICE transferred the boy to a detention center in Texas despite a judge’s order.
That claim has not been independently verified. The family’s current whereabouts also remain unclear.
Internet Reacts to California Mother and Child Being Taken Into ICE Custody
The footage prompted anger and concern among viewers. One commenter wrote, “Still wearing masks. Can’t wait till this ends!” Another said, “Praying that the changes come quickly!” Someone else demanded, “I hope all of these people go to prison. ALL OF THEM!!!”
One viewer connected the incident to the midterm results, writing, “And this is why the Democrats won so big. We are tired of Republican cruelty. The absolute heartlessness of the entire party.”
Others expressed concern about children in immigration custody. “I can’t wait for them to get what’s coming to them. No one is going to forgive or forget,” one person commented. Another added, “It’s beyond scary as to how many children that ICE has ‘disappeared’.”
Concerns have arisen in the context of wider reports on the treatment of children held in federal immigration custody. A November 2 report from KFF Health News detailed instances where children stayed in government-operated shelters for several months while relatives attempting to gain custody were themselves subject to immigration enforcement.
