Immigration officers detained a 17-year-old US citizen during his lunch break at a high school in Oregon on Friday, according to the student's family. Christian Jimenez, a senior at McMinnville High School, was driving his father's vehicle around 12.30pm when agents from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) stopped him, his brother Cesar Jimenez told Oregon Live.
Despite telling officers he was an American citizen, one agent broke the driver's side window and detained him. In a video shared by Cesar Jimenez, Christian can be heard asserting his citizenship while an officer responds “get out of the car” and “I don’t care.” Christian was taken to the ICE facility in south Portland and released shortly before 7pm the same day. Authorities are now attempting to charge him with “interference or obstruction of investigation.”
McMinnville High School’s superintendent, Kourtney Ferrua, confirmed the incident in a message to families, stating that the student, who was off campus for lunch, was detained by immigration agents but later identified as a US citizen and reunited with his family. Ferrua emphasised that the school district does not allow anyone without business in the school to enter during the day and that students are only released to approved adults.
An immigrant advocacy organisation, Unidos Bridging Community, reported that ICE detained four US citizens near Portland this week, including Jimenez and two people recording officers. Executive director Miriam Vargas Corona told KGW that six individuals were detained on Friday: four in McMinnville, one in Dundee, and one in Newberg, with another arrest in Newberg on Thursday.
