6-year-old NYC public school student grabbed by ICE with mother deported to Ecuador

Cayla Bamberger, New York Daily News on Aug 19, 2025

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NEW YORK — A nearly 7-year-old New York City public school student grabbed by ICE with her mother at a recent immigration check-in was deported Tuesday with her mom to Ecuador amid the Trump administration’s crackdown.

Dayra, a student at P.S. 89 The Jose Peralta School of Dreamers in Queens, and her mom Martha were separated from her 19-year-old brother Aug. 12 at 26 Federal Plaza.

They were shipped to a mega detention center near the U.S. southern border, while the boy, Manuel, is locked-up in New Jersey. The girl’s age was widely reported as 7 but she is 6.

“Today in the morning they put her on a plane to Ecuador already,” said Martha’s partner, Patricio, in Spanish. “She is about to arrive in Ecuador.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul said Monday that she asked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the parent agency of Immigration and Customs Enforcement or “ICE,” to intervene, saying the deportation of a young student “does not make anyone in New York or across the country safer.”

But by Tuesday morning, Martha was no longer listed in the ICE locator. The federal system does not provide information for detainees under 18.

The governor’s office and DHS did not immediately return requests for comment, though state and local officials confirmed her deportation.

“Deporting a 6-year-old child two weeks before she is supposed to start school, separating her and her mother from their family, is cruel,” Councilman Shekar Krishnan, D-Queens, and State Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz, D-Queens, said in a joint statement. “It is a shameful stain on our country’s history and conscience.”

“Separating families doesn’t make anyone safer. It only creates fear and tears apart our neighborhoods. It is an abhorrent practice, and it must end now.”

Advocates told the Daily News that ICE planned to put Dayra and Martha on a 7 a.m. flight to be deported by noon.

Patricio previously told the Daily News that she left Ecuador to flee domestic violence. An immigration judge denied Martha’s asylum claim last year, but the family until now was able to remain in the U.S. while attending their check-ins.

“She is very afraid of returning to Ecuador,” Patricio said on Friday.

Manuel, a recent Long Island high school graduate, remains at Delaney Hall in Newark, according to the ICE locator. He’s supposed to start college this year, according to his family.

Martha leaves behind two other children in New York: a 16-year-old daughter, who is also a Queens student, and 21-year-old son. They came to the U.S. separately and were not detained by ICE with the rest of their family.

Less than half of immigration arrests by ICE have involved someone with a conviction or criminal history, according to the governor’s office.

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