{"id":61330,"date":"2025-12-05T00:15:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T00:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/61330\/"},"modified":"2025-12-05T00:15:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T00:15:09","slug":"chinese-migrant-and-son-6-separated-after-ice-detains-father-in-nyc-reports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/61330\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese migrant and son, 6, separated after ICE detains father in NYC: reports"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Chinese migrant and his young son living in Queens were separated when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents tried to deport the pair in New York City, according to reports.<\/p>\n

Astoria resident Fei Zheng was taken into ICE custody at the end of an immigration hearing at 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan, and away from his 6-year-old boy, Yuanxin, on Nov. 26, community advocates told local outlets.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said to me, \u2018I did what they said I should do. I came in for this check-in.\u2019 And yet they arrested him and his son,\u201d activist Jennie Spector told NY1<\/a>, in reference to Zheng.<\/p>\n

Zheng, who was reportedly seeking asylum, was being held at a detention center in Orange County in the Hudson Valley, while the exact location of his son was unknown.<\/p>\n

\"FeiFather and son Fei and Yuanxin Zheng Immigration Coalition \/ Instagram<\/p>\n

Queens Councilwoman Julie Won told PIX 11<\/a> the child was safe and had legal representation.<\/p>\n

Federal authorities argued Zheng only had himself to blame for being detained and separated from his son, saying he had \u201crefused\u201d to get on a plane to be deported with the boy.<\/p>\n

Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary to the Department of Homeland Security, told outlets Zheng had a chance to leave the US with his son and \u201cwillfully chose not to comply.\u201d<\/p>\n

She alleged that Zheng\u00a0\u201crefused to board the plane and was acting so disruptive and aggressive that he endangered the child\u2019s wellbeing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe even attempted to escape and abandon his son,\u201d she also claimed.<\/p>\n

Spector, the local activist, said she had spoken with Zheng in person while he was being held behind bars.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was trying to put, I think, on a brave face, you know?\u201d Spector told CBS 2.<\/a> <\/p>\n

\"FederalFederal authorities detained the dad after a Nov. 26 hearing, advocates said. REUTERS<\/p>\n

\u201cBut he was tearful during times \u2026 that we met because he doesn\u2019t know where his son is and they\u2019re not telling him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The family\u2019s situation has led to outcry by liberal lawmakers in the Big Apple, including Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast week, ICE arrested and separated a father and son after a routine check-in.\u00a0Six-year-old Yuanxin had just enrolled in the first grade at an elementary school in Astoria,\u201d he said on X on Tuesday.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cNow he\u2019s in custody, alone. ICE won\u2019t say where. This cruelty serves no one. It must end.\u201d<\/p>\n

McLaughlin argued ICE does not separate families and like past administrations,\u00a0\u201cparents are asked if they want to be removed with their children or ICE will place the children with a safe person the parent designates,\u201d according to CBS 2.<\/p>\n

She added if a US citizen was pulled over by cops and didn\u2019t obey orders, \u201cthe children would be placed in safe custody,\u201d The City reported. <\/a><\/p>\n

Federal officials did not immediately respond to an email from The Post seeking comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Chinese migrant and his young son living in Queens were separated when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61331,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[3814,827,2300,2035,2301,57,9,56,63,65,64,122,58],"class_list":["post-61330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-astoria","tag-china","tag-department-of-homeland-security","tag-ice","tag-immigration","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-queens","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61330\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}