California Father Detained By ICE While Getting His Small Children Ready for School, Family Says

A Los Angeles father was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in front of his young kids as he buckled them into their car seats for school, his wife says.

"It was just a regular morning," Loreal Duran of Echo Park said when describing the events of January 23. As her husband, Giovanni Duran, 42, secured their two children in the car, an immigration officer approached and asked Loreal for identification. "As he got closer to the car, he saw my husband, and basically, he just went around to the other side to grab my husband out of the car and take him away," she told CalMatters.

Giovanni, who came to California from El Salvador at 2 years old without federal authorization, is now being held at the Adelanto detention facility, awaiting deportation to a country he has no memory of.

He had been working as a busser at a sushi restaurant to provide for his family.

The sudden separation has devastated their children, particularly their 7-year-old son, who needed counseling after witnessing his father's arrest.

"He was telling his classmates, 'Oh, daddy got arrested for not wearing his seatbelt,'" Loreal recalled.

"Did daddy get arrested because he's Brown?" the boy later asked. The mother struggled to find words but ultimately told him, "Yeah, he kinda did."

ICE reported that 8,276 arrests were made nationwide between January 22 and January 31. Less than half of those detained had criminal convictions, government data obtained by ProPublica and the Texas Tribune shows.

The Trump administration claims immigration enforcement targets dangerous criminals, but advocates argue that many, like Duran, are hardworking community members with deep roots.

As protests in solidarity with immigrants erupt across California and legal teams race to assist the detained, Loreal is left wondering what's next for her family.

"I haven't talked to him in almost two days," she said.

The Durans' story is not unique. Across California, lives are being upended despite the state's push to distance itself from federal immigration enforcement.

A new bill aims to limit local California police from assisting immigration authorities near medical offices, places of worship, and daycare centers. Meanwhile, Gov. Gavin Newsom has allocated $50 million to provide legal aid for immigrants facing deportation and to fight back against the Trump administration's policies.