New video footage has emerged showing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arresting an Iranian father while he was dropping off his child at a preschool in Beaverton, Oregon, last week. The arrest has sparked outrage among local leaders and community members.
The footage, obtained and verified by Oregon Public Broadcasting, shows Mahdi Khanbabazadeh, a 38-year-old chiropractor, pleading with masked agents to wait because his child was in the car. In one clip, he says, 'There is a baby in the car. Is it hard to wait for three minutes?' Minutes later, an agent breaks the driver's side window to extract him.
ICE arrested Khanbabazadeh on 15 July outside Guidepost Montessori school. The agency stated that he had overstayed his student visa, but his family says he is married to a U.S. citizen and had applied for a green card. ICE claimed he resisted arrest after initially cooperating, but the video shows him asking to wait for his child to exit the vehicle.
Khanbabazadeh remains detained at a facility in Tacoma, Washington. A bystander video shows him handcuffed against his car, saying, 'I'm Iranian, I don't know why they are doing this. I am a doctor.' An onlooker is heard criticising the agents for not identifying themselves.
The arrest is the first confirmed federal immigration enforcement at an Oregon school, according to local reports. Beaverton Mayor Lacey Beaty, Oregon Governor Tina Kotek, and Congresswoman Andrea Salinas have condemned the incident, with the mayor calling it 'appalling'.
