ICE agents detain parents dropping off kids outside Baltimore school

[The latest: ICE vehicles hit Baltimore father’s car as he took his children to school, attorney says]

A mother and father dropping their children off at a Baltimore school were detained by immigration enforcement agents just feet from the school’s front steps early Thursday morning, a shocking scene that shattered the belief that Maryland schools are safe spaces.

Children walked behind ICE agents wrestling the father to the ground on school property as they arrived to start their day. The news spread rapidly across east Baltimore City schools.

The action was apparently the first time U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained individuals on school property in Baltimore since President Donald Trump returned to office last year and initiated a sweeping immigration crackdown.

State and city officials were quick to condemn the action, claiming ICE had broken earlier pledges to leave schools alone.

Video of the incident shows federal agents parked in the driveway leading to a building on Fait Avenue near Dundalk, where Commodore John Rodgers Elementary/Middle School students have been temporarily attending classes. Bystanders reminded officers they were on school property as a child screamed in distress in a car with an apparently broken window.

In an emailed statement, Maryland State Department of Education officials said they’d “received assurances earlier this school year from the Baltimore ICE Field Office that immigration enforcement actions would not occur on school grounds.”

ICE did not respond to requests for comment.

Maryland State Superintendent of Schools Carey Wright and State Board of Education President Joshua Michael said the incident, “in full view of some families and students, overshadowed what would have been a joyful day of pre-K graduation and end-of-year events.”

“Immigration enforcement does not belong in or near our schools,” the joint statement read. “Public schools have a long history as sensitive locations where immigration enforcement would not occur.”

Gov. Wes Moore said in a statement that his administration was “in direct communication with ICE leadership to determine how this could have happened, why it happened on school grounds during drop off and what steps will be taken to ensure this does not happen again.”

Actions that “terrorize children, separate families in front of a school” do not make the public safer, the governor said.

What they saw

The incident comes amid a national debate over ICE’s tactics in the wake of a widely criticized surge in Minneapolis that led to the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens, Alex Pretti and Renee Good.

Trump this week signed a $700 billion immigration enforcement bill that will fund his deportation agenda through the end of his term, the Associated Press reported.

In the Fait Avenue school building in far East Baltimore, video recorded by bystanders and obtained by The Banner shows two agents in vests that say “POLICE ICE” wrestling the man on the ground. “Stop resisting!” an agent shouts.

To the left of the officers is a car with what appears to be a smashed window. ICE agents have been recorded breaking windows to reach people they’re trying to detain inside their vehicles. A woman is in the driver’s seat. Behind her is a young girl, crying and screaming.

“My dad didn’t do anything,” says the girl, leaning out of a backseat window.

In the background, a woman who appears to be taking her child to school can be seen running, a pink lunchbox in her hand, as she ushers the child away from the scene.

The video was recorded in a traffic circle outside the school building, where three police vehicles were parked an hour later. To the right is a parking lot.

The agents eventually handcuff the man and walk him to an unmarked black Dodge Charger with Maryland license plates. One of those recording the encounter can be heard saying the man’s feet are bleeding and he was just dropping kids off at school.

“He just ran over an officer a few minutes ago,” an agent in a navy polo shirt shouts back. “If you don’t mind, let us do our jobs.”

That agent then walks back to the vehicle with the woman and girl still in it and says, “Either you get out, or you’re going to jail.” Another agent joins him at the driver’s side of the car.

In a second video reviewed by The Banner, agents detain the woman who was in the car.

Baltimore City and school system police officers were called to the school at 8:02 a.m. “in reference to federal agents detaining someone,” said Lindsey Eldridge, a spokesperson for the Baltimore Police Department. When they arrived, the agents and those they had detained were no longer there, she said. School police and BPD are investigating.

What they said

In a recorded call sent to school parents Thursday morning, Principal Marc Martin said officials “are aware of a federal immigration enforcement action that occurred on our campus this morning.”

“While some members of our school community were significantly impacted, students and staff that were not involved remain safe, and we will continue with our scheduled activities today,” Martin said. “We are working closely with district leaders to assess the situation and determine any necessary next steps.”

In an email to city school system staff and families Thursday afternoon, district officials said they oppose immigration enforcement actions on school grounds. They said they are in contact with local and state ICE officials and elected officials “seeking clear assurances that enforcement activity of this nature will not occur on our school campuses again.”

“Schools should be places of learning, belonging, and opportunity, not places where children and families fear separation, intimidation, or disruption,” the email reads. “We will continue to advocate forcefully for the safety, dignity, and well-being of every student and family in our care.”

An ICE official told Maryland school superintendents this year that ICE would not enter school buildings or do any staging on school grounds. Though agents have been getting closer to school campuses in Southeast Baltimore, this appears to be the first time that immigration activity occurred on school property in the city, rattling local leaders.

In a video posted to social media, Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson said, when incidents occurred near Hampstead Hill Academy and Patterson Park Public Charter School last month, “there was an assurance made that there would not be any more enforcement actions in front of schools in any way.”

Ferguson said the family in the video was pulled onto school property while being chased by ICE agents. He called the video “unbelievable,” saying parents were “ripped out of their cars” with their “children in the backseat screaming.” He said “heroic educators” brought the children inside the school building to protect them.

It appears the ICE action does not violate city laws. “The legislation recently passed by the Council prohibits city agencies from coordinating with federal immigration officials, so it would not apply to an unauthorized and uninvited incursion onto city property, which this appears to have been,” Baltimore Solicitor Ebony Thompson said.

The Banner could not determine Thursday if any state laws were violated.

Mayor Brandon Scott said footage of the incident was “disturbing.” City officials, he said, had reached out to federal authorities “to express our anger at this arrest occurring on school grounds.”

“This type of enforcement is not welcome in Baltimore,” Scott said in a statement, calling the tactics being used in the city and across the country “violent and dehumanizing.”

“Schools should be places of safety in Baltimore, both for our young people and their families,” he said.

Councilmember Mark Parker said the incident is “as bad as we’ve seen in Baltimore” and that it checks “all the boxes for terrorizing and traumatizing the children of our community.” His district includes the school building where the incident took place, and some students in his district attend John Rodgers.

“The fact that it happened on school property is unprecedented and really alarming,” Parker said.

About 40% of students at Commodore John Rodgers are Hispanic, and over a third are learning English. Other schools near Patterson Park that have been dealing with an increased ICE presence also have large Hispanic student populations.

Parents who arrived just after 9 a.m. to attend graduation ceremonies or to pick up their children had to wait for a staff member to let them into the area. Some walked the same driveway where the morning chaos took place, clutching tiny hands and holding oversize balloons.

Banner reporter Emily Opilo contributed to this article.