6-Year-Old Vanishes Into ICE Custody After Routine NYC Check-In

James Powers

A Chinese father and his 6-year-old son from Astoria were separated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during a scheduled check-in at 26 Federal Plaza on Nov. 26, with the father now held in Orange County and the child’s location still undisclosed, according to advocates and community officials.

The father, identified only as Fei, and his son Yuanxin were attending a routine immigration appointment when agents detained both. Advocates who accompanied them say the family was split inside the building, and that only the father reappeared in ICE’s online detainee locator later that day.

Since then, no one, not the father, not his advocates, nor elected officials have been told where the 6-year-old is.

DHS Says “ICE Does Not Separate Families”

In a statement, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin acknowledged the separation but rejected responsibility, saying the pair had been issued a lawful order of removal “as a family unit.”
McLaughlin claimed Fei refused to board a plane, acted “disruptive and aggressive,” and “endangered the child’s wellbeing,” adding that ICE “will place the children with a safe person the parent designates” if a parent does not comply.

Advocates say none of that matches what they witnessed.

Jennie Spector, a community organizer who has been assisting the family since summer, said Fei told her he was simply taken away from his son without explanation.

“The father does not know where his son is,” Spector said. “They basically have kidnapped his son.”

A Growing Pattern at 26 Federal Plaza

Multiple advocates say that what happened to Fei and Yuanxin is part of an increasingly common, largely hidden trend:
children being detained by ICE behind closed doors inside 26 Federal Plaza.

A volunteer who gave only the name John said he has accompanied dozens of families to check-ins in the past months and has repeatedly seen children detained.

“They just don’t come out,” he said. “Entire families have gone in and not gone out.”

Newly released data from the Deportation Data Project shows 151 children have been arrested by ICE between January and October of this year, with arrests accelerating sharply beginning in May.

The Family’s Background

Fei and his son entered the U.S. in April seeking asylum. They were held in a family detention center before being released on parole over the summer, then re-detained in August and returned to a facility in Dilley, Texas.
Their asylum case was administratively closed in September, usually a sign that DHS is deprioritizing deportation, and they were released again in late October on year-long parole.

The family was living in a Queens shelter, and 6-year-old Yuanxin had just started first grade at P.S. 166 in Astoria.

Local Officials: “This Cruelty Serves No One”

Queens Assemblyman and Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani condemned the separation:

“Six-year-old Yuanxin had just enrolled in the first grade. Now he’s in custody, alone. ICE won’t say where. This cruelty serves no one.”

Other local leaders warned of broader community harm from children disappearing overnight to parents unsure how to explain what “detention” even means.

What Remains Unknown

• Where is the 6-year-old?
  ICE has refused to disclose the child’s location.

• Why was the family separated?
  ICE’s account conflicts with those of witnesses and advocates.

• What due process exists when a child is taken inside a federal building with no public access and no oversight?

For now, a father sits in a New York jail waiting for answers.
A 6-year-old is somewhere in federal custody.
And the agency responsible maintains it doesn’t separate families, even when it does.