Los Angeles Unified officers stated a 15-year-old boy with disabilities was briefly detained at gunpoint close to Arleta Excessive College in a case of mistaken identification — an account federal immigration authorities disputed Tuesday, saying brokers had been concentrating on a person with a legal file within the space.
District leaders stated the boy, a pupil from San Fernando Excessive College, was handcuffed Monday morning by people who refused to determine themselves as immigration enforcement officers and launched when it turned clear he was not the particular person they sought. They stated the incident has left him shaken simply days earlier than the college yr begins.
“Allegations that Border Patrol targeted Arleta High School are FALSE,” a CBP spokesperson stated. “Agents were conducting a targeted operation on criminal illegal alien Cristian Alexander Vasquez-Alvarenga — a Salvadoran national and suspected MS-13 pledge with prior criminal convictions in the broader vicinity of Arleta.”
The spokesperson didn’t deal with the district’s declare that the boy’s detention was a case of mistaken identification.
The White Home was requested in regards to the incident throughout Tuesday’s press briefing however declined remark. A spokesperson referred reporters to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Division of Homeland Safety.
Authorized challenges are actually underway over whether or not that army deployment violated the Posse Comitatus Act, which limits the usage of army troops in home legislation enforcement.
LAUSD Board Member Kelly Gonez, who represents Board District 6 within the East San Fernando Valley, the realm that features {the teenager}’s college, condemned the incident.
“I find it abhorrent that unidentified federal agents would handcuff, detain, and terrorize a child with disabilities right outside a public school,” she stated in an announcement Tuesday. “Allegedly a case of mistaken identity, this action wasn’t about ensuring law and order. It was a disproportionate, traumatizing attack meant to sow fear and further harm our East Valley communities.”
Angelica Salas, government director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, known as the incident “astounding” and stated it confirmed “how far this government is willing to go in their obsession to hunt immigrants.”
The incident occurred simply days earlier than round 540,000 LAUSD college students are scheduled to return to class on Thursday, Aug, 14. It got here hours earlier than district officers — joined by a coalition of metropolis, college board and native leaders — held a press convention reaffirming their dedication to guard immigrant college students and households.
Carvalho stated the boy was pulled from a automobile and positioned in handcuffs whereas accompanying his grandmother to drop off a member of the family on the college to register for courses.
The superintendent stated officers initially claimed they weren’t implementing immigration legislation, nor had been they a part of ICE, however video proof – which the district isn’t releasing to guard the coed’s privateness – confirmed police and Board Patrol brokers.
Carvalho stated a faculty principal and L.A. College Cops intervened, and {the teenager} was launched as soon as it was clear the brokers weren’t pursuing him.“But the release will not release him from what he experienced, the trauma will linger, it will not cease,” he added.
LAUSD officers have known as for no-enforcement zones inside a couple of blocks of each campus — one hour earlier than college begins and one hour after it ends — amid stepped-up immigration operations in Southern California this summer season, however federal officers haven’t stated whether or not they are going to honor that request.
District officers stated they’ve bolstered security measures round colleges, together with sooner coordination with native businesses, a stronger presence in impacted communities, and rapid-response protocols if enforcement exercise happens.
“Our message is clear: every child belongs in school, and we will do everything in our power to keep our campuses safe, supportive, and welcoming for all,” a district spokesperson stated Tuesday.
Employees Author Kaitlyn Schallhorn contributed to this report
Initially Printed: August 13, 2025 at 8:15 AM PDT
