“They Called ICE on a Child”

“Being undocumented does not make a child less deserving of protection.”

Where Is the Humanity?

News like this makes me sick to my stomach.

A 17-year-old boy, already separated from his mother and possibly a victim of labor trafficking, was taken out of a foster home in handcuffs and shackles and turned over to ICE. He was in Florida’s child welfare system. He needed care, safety, and support. Instead, the very system that was supposed to protect him handed him over to the same forces that had already torn his family apart.

And now, immigrant families will think twice before calling for help.

Our children are the ones in danger. They will be abused, kidnapped, and sex trafficked, and no one will report it. Why? Because our people will be too afraid. If you are undocumented and report that your neighbor’s child is being hurt, what happens next? Will your own children be taken away? Will you be deported for trying to protect someone else's child?

That fear will silence us. When people are too afraid to speak up, children suffer in silence.

And what makes this even worse is that it breaks the law.

In 1995, Florida passed a rule to protect undocumented children in the foster care system. It clearly says that no child should be reported to immigration just because of their status. The Department of Children and Families is not supposed to contact ICE to begin deportation. That rule was made to keep kids safe, no matter where they come from. But in this case, DCF violated that protection. They broke a promise that has stood for 30 years.

Where is the humanity? Where is the empathy?

These are children. Children who have endured things that most of us cannot even imagine. Children who crossed deserts and borders not for fun but for survival. And now they are being punished for simply trying to exist.

To those who say, "Well, this is not their country," you should be ashamed. These children are human beings. You do not know what they are running from. You do not know the hunger, the violence, the trauma. You do not know what it feels like to be 17 and alone, working for ten dollars a day, just trying to survive.

So I ask you, what are you doing to protect these kids?

Because if the answer is nothing, then you are part of the silence that allows their suffering to continue.

📚 Source:

Marbin Miller, C., Ceballos, A. y Ortiz Blanes, S. (11 de junio de 2025). Policy shift? Florida calls ICE on migrant teen in foster care. Miami Herald. https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article308254995.html

✊🏽 Call to Action:
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Call your local representatives.
Support immigrant advocacy groups like RAICES or Floridians Protecting Freedom.
We cannot stay silent when children are being betrayed.