ICE detained a father at a routine check-in and placed his 6-year-old son in unaccompanied-minor custody

On November 26, 2025, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained Fei Zheng and his 6-year-old son, Yuanxin, when the pair arrived for a scheduled check-in at ICE's office at 26 Federal Plaza in New York City -- the third time ICE had detained them since they crossed the U.S.-Mexico border together in April 2025. ICE placed Zheng in immigration detention at the Orange County Correctional Facility, roughly 65 miles from New York City, while the Office of Refugee Resettlement took custody of Yuanxin as though he were an unaccompanied minor, even though his father remained available and in the government's own custody.

Community members organized in response, including families from Yuanxin's elementary school in Astoria, Queens, where he had just started first grade; more than 200 people attended a protest outside the ICE office. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson disputed characterizing the episode as a family separation, saying Zheng "had the right and the ability to depart the country as a family" and had refused to comply with a removal order, while confirming that Zheng was detained, that Yuanxin was held separately, and that the family was later deported together. A community advocate who worked with the family said Zheng ultimately decided to stop contesting his immigration case, while separated from his son, in order to be reunited with him.

Updates

2025-12-19 — Zheng and his son deported together to China [1]

Zheng and Yuanxin were deported together to China on December 19, 2025, according to a community advocate in contact with the family throughout the case.