Outrage in Linda Vista after ICE arrest near elementary school

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) -- Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents sparked outrage in Linda Vista after detaining a father outside an elementary school Thursday afternoon in an incident caught on cellphone video.

The arrest happened around 3 p.m. outside a church just steps away from Linda Vista Elementary School, where parents were gathering to pick up their children. Witnesses said the man had been waiting to collect his child when ICE agents, with their faces covered, approached his vehicle.

“They were like hitting the car and telling the guy, ‘get out of the car,’ and he was like, ‘why? why?’” said Michelle, a bystander who recorded the arrest and asked not to be identified for safety reasons. She said she watched in horror as the man was handcuffed and taken away.

San Diego Unified Superintendent Fabiola Bagula condemned the timing and location of the arrest, saying it left families and staff shaken.

“It left children, families, staff with questions and fears that no one, especially our youngest learners, should have to carry,” Bagula said during a press conference. “A child did not get picked up from school by their parent. This is traumatic. There’s a reason why those people are wearing masks — because they know it’s wrong to do.”

Bagula emphasized that ICE agents are not allowed to enter campuses without a warrant and called on federal officials to avoid enforcement near schools.

“Our schools and the neighborhoods that surround them should be off limits to enforcement actions like this,” she said. “There may be a lot of debates about immigration reform, but there should be no debate that this kind of tactic is inhumane.”

Cody Petterson, president of the San Diego Unified school board, echoed those concerns.

“When you show up and cut out from work early to pick up your kids to make sure they are safe, you should not be abducted as you are waiting for your child to come out of school,” he said. “It doesn’t matter where you are on the political spectrum — no one thinks that’s a good thing.”

Thursday’s arrest comes one week after a similar incident outside Camarena Elementary School in Chula Vista, where ICE agents detained a parent who had previously been ordered deported.

School officials said the Linda Vista student whose father was detained was later picked up safely by their mother.

Immigration officials have not yet released details about the arrest.