Federal officials confirmed that a Southern California fourth grader who was detained by immigration officials will be deported.
Martir Garcia Lara, 9, is a student at Torrance Elementary School. On May 29, he attended an immigration hearing in downtown Los Angeles with his father, Martir Garcia-Banegas, 50.
However, instead of receiving an update on their immigration status, the boy and his father were both detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and separated from each other.
The next day, they were transferred to an immigration facility in Texas with plans to deport them to Honduras.
“He’s alone and he’s not able to return home,” said Jasmin King, PTA president at Torrance Elementary.
ICE officials told KTLA that on July 10, 2021, the boy and his father illegally entered the U.S.
On Sept. 1, 2022, an immigration judge ordered the pair to return to Honduras. Garcia-Banegas appealed the decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals, but on Aug. 11, 2023, the appeal was dismissed.
However, the boy and his father did not leave the country as ordered and during the immigration hearing in downtown L.A., they were detained, ICE said.
“They exhausted due process and have no legal remedies left to pursue,” federal officials said in a statement on Thursday.
News of the boy’s detainment had teachers and community members outraged. King said the 9-year-old has been a student at Torrance Elementary since the first grade.
Teachers at Torrance Elementary reached out to King and the rest of the PTA, asking them for help in somehow getting the young boy and his father released and back to Southern California.
“All we know is that Martir is just a fourth-grader who’s by himself, without his dad, without a parent, and just in a place that he probably doesn’t know, so we can only imagine what he might be feeling,” King said.
PTA members and concerned residents have reached out to federal, state and local leaders, asking them to intervene while encouraging other parents and community members to help in any way they can.
King said she and other PTA members are also prepared to help the boy and his father with any legal aid or financial assistance should they need it.
Officials from the Torrance Unified School District said they are aware of Lara’s detainment. They released a statement, saying in part:
“This event was uncoordinated and did not occur on school grounds. Upon learning of the event, we actively engaged with the family to address the matter.
We care deeply about our students, and we have received numerous inquiries about what individuals can do to assist the student and the family. Since this issue is a federal matter, we encourage those of you who have contacted us to share your feedback with elected officials for our area, who include Congressional Representatives, Maxine Waters and Ted Lieu, as well as U.S. Senators, Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff.
Every child in our District has a right to education and safety, and we will continue to protect those rights. We will also provide updates should any more information become publicly available.”
According to the Los Angeles Times, the father and son are being held at a facility in south Texas that is described as a family residential center. The property was inactive by August 2024, but operations were restarted earlier this year.
