City Spokesman: Immigration Agent Came To Queens School Looking For 4th Grader, Was Turned Away
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A federal immigration agent showed up at a Queens elementary school last week looking for a fourth grader, but was turned away at the door, a city spokesman said.
It happened Thursday at P.S. 58 in Maspeth Queens, the spokesman said. It was the first time such a thing happened since the city put a policy in place to turn away federal agents without warrants, WCBS 880's Myles Miller reported.
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the policy in March.
"We're not allowing (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents in the building, because I think parents are so afraid right now, and are worried that an agent could literally come into a building and single out their child, we want them to know that can't happen under this policy," de Blasio said in March.
Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña said in a statement that all students, regardless of immigration status, are welcome in New York City public schools.
Meanwhile, one woman, Rebecca, told 1010 WINS' Roger Stern she did not like the idea of ICE coming to schools.
"It kind of like leaves a bad effect on the kids', I guess, experience at school, and I just think it's really something that shouldn't be happening, like, don't talk to the kids," she said.
She said she thought the school did the right thing in turning the agent away.
The city's Immigration Affairs commissioner is investigating the incident in Queens.
In a statement sent to CBS2, a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesperson said "While I cannot discuss the details of the case, I can confirm that two USCIS officials visited an elementary school in Maspeth, Queens as part of an administrative inquiry pertaining to an immigration benefit request."
"Although school visits are not routine in these circumstances, they are not unprecedented," the statement continued. "I must emphasize that the purpose of the visit was to verify certain facts about the student's enrollment in relation to a request for an immigration benefit. At no time did the officers ask to see or speak with the student, who was not the subject of the administrative inquiry."