ICE Detains Autistic Girl in Massachusetts to Pressure Father Into Surrender

• ICE detains autistic girl
• Family denounces use as bait
• Father arrested days later

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents detained a 5-year-old autistic girl outside her home in Leominster, Massachusetts, according to her family.

The incident occurred last week while authorities were seeking her father, Edward Hip Mejía, originally from Guatemala and a U.S. resident for 25 years.

A video obtained by Telemundo New England shows the child sitting beside what appears to be a police vehicle, surrounded by several law enforcement agents.

The girl’s mother, who asked not to be identified, denounced that the agents used her as pressure to force her husband to surrender.

ICE Detains Autistic Girl in Massachusetts

They can try to deny it all they want but the video is clear as day – the ICE agents held the small 5 year old girl hostage until the father would come out. This is highly illegal. pic.twitter.com/MoJdcZI6gj

— DΛVID (@DavidShares) September 23, 2025

“They took my daughter, she’s 5 years old. She has autism,” the woman said on camera, asking for her child to be returned, according to NBC News.

According to the mother, Edward Hip Mejía called her while driving with the girl shortly before the incident, fearing he was being followed. He managed to return to the parking lot of their home, but by then agents had already detained the child.

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The video shows agents trying to get Mejía to come out of the house and verify identification, while he suggested handing documents over through the door.

The Department of Homeland Security strongly rejected the accusations.

Procedure and Video of the Incident

ICE agents held 5-year-old girl outside Leominster home to get father to surrender, family says pic.twitter.com/Wlb3P7Oqpl

— TheSidewalkSchool (@SidewalkSchool) September 23, 2025

Deputy Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated that “ICE agents never used a 5-year-old girl as bait” and called the accusation a “disgusting smear.”

McLaughlin added that Mejía, who had prior arrests for domestic violence, ignored emergency lights, fled the vehicle, and left his daughter behind while making an obscene gesture toward the officers.

Local police recovered the girl and returned her to her family, who confirmed she is safe.

Response from the Department of Homeland Security

Two days after the incident, agents returned to the house and arrested Edward Hip Mejía, who is currently held at an ICE detention center in Plymouth.

The mother insisted, “We are not criminals,” stressing that the family has two U.S.-born children.

The Leominster Police Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the operation.