Officials seek answers as ICE action at Baltimore school raises questions over policy

BALTIMORE (WBFF) — Parents dropping off their children at Commodore John Rodgers Elementary/Middle School were met with a startling scene just after 7 a.m. Thursday when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers took a man into custody and detained a woman on school property, according to school officials.

Bus driver Jude Castallanos said she was preparing to drop off 10 children at Commodore John Rodgers Elementary/Middle School Thursday morning when she drove into a federal takedown.

“I’m still in shocked that this happened at the school,” Castallanos said.

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As the children watched, Castallanos said at least one student feared agents would take her, too.

“This girl told me, ‘they’re going to take me they’re going to take me,’ I’m like ‘hey, chill, calm down they’re not going to take you,’” she said.

Video from the scene captured someone shouting, “You cannot do this to him this is school property. This is school property.”

Federal agents have long pledged not to take enforcement actions at schools.

However, elected leaders were quick to condemn the actions taken outside the east Baltimore school.

“This type of enforcement is not welcome in Baltimore,” Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott wrote in a statement.

Gov. Wes Moore called it “deeply disturbing” and vowed to pursue answers from ICE.

Federal immigration officials did not discuss the incident, but have long maintained that their mission is “to protect the homeland through the identification, arrest, detention, and removal of individuals who undermine public safety, national security, or the integrity of U.S. immigration laws.”

It’s still unclear what prompted the takedown. However, agents at the scene suggested it may have started off school property.

Video captured an agent saying, “He just ran over an officer a few minutes ago. He literally just hit an officer.”

Castallanos described the encounter as forceful.

“It looked violent because I think that guy was trying to fight back,” she said.

Castallanos said she believes the incident began elsewhere and ended on the school’s front lawn.

“In school we feel safe. Parents send children to school thinking they’ll be safe, but this is completely insane. I’ve never seen this,” she said.