An Oregon father was arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement while dropping his child off at daycare.
Mahdi Khanbabazadeh, 38, a Iranian citizen and chiropractor, was arrested by ICE agents outside his child's daycare center on Friday. He was pulled over by the agents while his child was still in the car, and asked if he could drop the child off first. He then called his wife and explained the situation to her, according to ABC7 Eyewitness News.
Khanbabazadeh's wife then rushed to the daycare center and took their child from his car while he remained in the parking lot and conversed with the agents. He asked if he could move somewhere away from school grounds in order to avoid arrest in front of children and their families.
As he pulled out of the lot and onto the street, ICE agents broke his car window and arrested him before he could even open his door.
"More than anything we want to express how unnecessarily violent and inhumane this was," said Kellie Burns, who has two children attending the preschool. "Everyone felt helpless. Everyone was scared."
"Officers attempted to arrest Khanbabazadeh during a traffic stop when he requested permission to drop his child off at daycare," ICE said in a statement. "Officers allowed him to proceed to the daycare parking lot where he stopped cooperating, resisted arrest and refused to exit his vehicle, resulting in ICE officers making entry by breaking one of the windows to complete the arrest."
ICE also alleges that Khanbabazadeh overstayed his visa, which his wife claims is not true.
"I feel like a daycare, which is where young children are taken care of, should be a safe place," Natalie Berning said after dropping off her daughter at the Montessori in Beaverton on Friday morning. "Not only is it traumatizing for the family, it's traumatizing for all the other children as well."
Originally published on Latin Times
