BEAVERTON, Ore. (AP) — Parents at a preschool in a Portland suburb are reeling after immigration officers arrested a father in front of the school during morning drop-off hours, breaking his car window to detain him in front of children, families and staffers.
“I feel like a day care, 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.”
Mahdi Khanbabazadeh, a 38-year-old chiropractor and citizen of Iran, was initially pulled over by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, while driving his child to the school Tuesday. After asking if he could drop off the child first, he continued driving and called his wife to tell her what happened, according to his wife, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to privacy concerns for her and her young child.
His wife rushed to the school, took their child from his car and brought him inside. Khanbabazadeh stayed in the vehicle in the parking lot and asked if he could move somewhere not on school grounds out of consideration for the children and families, his wife said. He pulled out of the lot and onto the street and began to open the car door to step out when agents broke the window and took him into custody, according to his wife.
Kellie Burns, who has two children attending the preschool, said her husband was there and heard the glass shatter.
“More than anything we want to express how unnecessarily violent and inhumane this was,” she said. “Everyone felt helpless. Everyone was scared.”
ICE said it detained Khanbabazadeh because he overstayed his visa, which his wife disputes.
“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.”
Immigration officials have dramatically ramped up arrests across the country since May. Shortly after President Donald Trump took office in January, his administration lifted restrictions on making immigration arrests at schools, health care facilities and places of worship, stirring fears about going to places once considered safe spaces.
After U.S. military strikes on Iran in June, officials trumpeted immigration arrests of Iranians, some of whom settled in the United States long ago.
Khanbabazadeh’s wife said he has always maintained lawful status. After he arrived on a valid student visa and they subsequently married, she said, they submitted all required paperwork to adjust his status and were waiting for a final decision following their green card interview months ago.
Khanbabazadeh is being held at the ICE detention facility in Tacoma, Washington, she said.
Guidepost Global Education, which oversees the Montessori school, called the incident “deeply upsetting.”
“We understand that this incident raises broader questions about how law enforcement actions intersect with school environments,” CEO Maris Mendes said in a statement. “It is not lost on us how frightening and confusing this experience may have been for those involved — especially for the young children who may have witnessed it while arriving at school with their parents.”
Parents said they want to support the family and teachers.
“We know it’s happening across the country, of course, but no one is prepared for their preschool … to deal with it,” Burns said. “It’s really been a nightmare.”
