BY CHANTAL DA SILVA NEWSWEEK ON 2/27/20
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency has denied claims agents arrested a father at a school bus stop in Portland just after dropping his children off.
Earlier this week, a Tigard-Tualatin School District official told The Portland Tribune that, from the school board's understanding, Tomas Galvan-Rodriguez had been arrested at a bus stop after walking his two children there last week.
"Two of our students...their [parent] walked them to the school bus, the kids got on the school bus and ICE came and arrested the parent," Jill Zurschmeide, school board director, told the outlet on Monday.
At the time, it was unclear whether the children had witnessed the arrest.
Marked school bus stops are considered "sensitive locations" by ICE, meaning agents should avoid performing an arrest there.
In a statement sent to Newsweek, ICE claimed that it was not true that Galvan-Rodriguez was arrested at a marked school bus stop, nor was he arrested on foot, according to agency spokesperson Tanya Roman.
At the time, it was unclear whether the children had witnessed the arrest.
Marked school bus stops are considered "sensitive locations" by ICE, meaning agents should avoid performing an arrest there.
In a statement sent to Newsweek, ICE claimed that it was not true that Galvan-Rodriguez was arrested at a marked school bus stop, nor was he arrested on foot, according to agency spokesperson Tanya Roman.
"The location of Galvan-Rodriguez's traffic stop and subsequent arrest did not occur at a known marked school bus stop or a location that was previously known to the officers," Roman said.
Galvan-Rodriguez, she said, had been arrested on February 19 during a routine traffic stop. The father had been in a vehicle at the time of his arrest, she asserted.
According to Roman, the father is a citizen of Mexico and has been living in the u.S. undocumented. The ICE spokesperson also added that he has a criminal history, which includes a 2004 conviction for a hit-and-run and a 2008 conviction for larceny. According to The Oregonian, court records showed that Galvan-Rodriguez damaged property in the hit-and-run, but had not injured anyone.
Roman said Galvan-Rodriguez is "currently pending immigration proceedings before a federal immigration judge." It is unclear whether he will be deported out of the U.S.
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agent
preparing to arrest alleged immigration violators at Fresh Mark,
Salem, June 19, 2018.SMITH COLLECTION/GADO/GETTY
It is also unclear whether the father's children have someone else to take care of them. District Superintendent Sue Rieke-Smith told the Tribune that the children had been connected with supportive services to make sure their housing and other basic needs would be met.
The list of sensitive locations, she said, include: "Schools, such as known and licensed daycares, pre-schools and other early learning programs; primary schools; secondary schools; post-secondary schools up to and including colleges and universities; as well as scholastic or education-related activities or events, and school bus stops that are marked and/or known to the officer, during periods when school children are present at the stop."
It is also unclear whether the father's children have someone else to take care of them. District Superintendent Sue Rieke-Smith told the Tribune that the children had been connected with supportive services to make sure their housing and other basic needs would be met.
The list of sensitive locations, she said, include: "Schools, such as known and licensed daycares, pre-schools and other early learning programs; primary schools; secondary schools; post-secondary schools up to and including colleges and universities; as well as scholastic or education-related activities or events, and school bus stops that are marked and/or known to the officer, during periods when school children are present at the stop."
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