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Immigration and Customs Enforcement the agents are furious Rhode Island’s The governor, a senator, and the chief justice of its state Supreme Court came after authorities detained a high school Statehouse intern on suspicion that he was an illegal immigrant.
The recording of the incident shows ICE agent Detaining the teen, who was traveling from the Statehouse to his school as part of an internship at the Rhode Island Superior Court. The teen was being driven to school by a judge when ICE agents stopped him.
Governor Dan McKee called the incident “inexcusable” in a statement.
McKee said, “ICE agents wrongfully detained a high school intern outside the Superior Court – an outrageous and inexcusable act that could have completely ruined a young man’s life.”
a court employee familiar with the situation told CNN The situation began inside a courtroom, where ICE agents taking pictures of high schoolers,
Security reportedly asked the man to stop taking photographs of people inside the courtroom, then the man identified himself as an ICE agent.
It is unclear why the ICE agent was taking photographs.
The student was reportedly upset by the incident, leading Superior Court Associate Justice Joseph McBurney to offer the student a return to his school.
Before the judge could leave with the student, ICE agents surrounded his car. The footage shows at least six agents descending on the vehicle and asking the teen and the judge to get out.
About 30 seconds later, the video shows a federal agent restraining the intern’s hands and taking her away as protesters yell at the agents.
In the video, a protester can be heard shouting, “He’s a ***** kid.”
According to CNN, citing the employee, McBurney explained to agents that the teen was an intern at the court and that they had made a mistake.
According to the Rhode Island Judiciary, the intern was taken across the street and later released after ICE verified his identity.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security reportedly told CNN that its agents were searching for a “child predator” and “briefly questioned someone resembling the target,” but that person was never detained or arrested.
ICE has been criticized hanging around the courts And schools The people who kidnapped are being searched. Their tactics have become so common that protesters were demonstrating outside the courthouse even before ICE took the teen into custody.
Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court Paul A. Sutel said the incident only proves the protesters’ point in court.
“This serious incident underscores the concerns of both the community and the judiciary about how ICE is conducting its operations in Rhode Island,” the judge said.
Democratic Senator Cory Booker, who represents New Jersey, condemned ICE in a social media post on Sunday.
“A teenager. An American citizen. Detained by ICE in a courtroom. This is not law and order – this is intimidation. This does not protect our communities; it undermines them. This violates the trust that people need to safely access the justice system,” Booker. wrote“It wastes law-enforcement resources that should be focused on real threats, not innocent children, We must condemn it and demand accountability, America is better than this,”
McKee blamed the situation squarely on the Trump administration, which has empowered ICE to operate in America’s cities with a vague and almost unchecked mandate.
McKee said, “This was not a harmless mistake. It was a direct result of the Trump administration’s senseless and chaotic policies.” “Furthermore, ICE’s failure to conduct due diligence is shameful and underscores how broken and dangerous these federal policies are.”