DHS Rejects NBC Report Claiming ICE Used 5-Year-Old Autistic Girl as Bait to Arrest Father
Agency says the allegation is a smear; says the father fled and left his child; the girl was rescued; Mejia detained days later in Plymouth, Mass.
On Tuesday, Tricia McLaughlin, DHS assistant secretary for public affairs, rejected NBC News's report that ICE agents used a 5-year-old autistic girl as bait to arrest her father in Massachusetts. McLaughlin called the accusation a 'disgusting smear' and said ICE never used a child as bait.
A video obtained by Telemundo Nueva Inglaterra shows the girl seated beside a law-enforcement SUV outside her Leominster home, holding a bottle while several male officers stood nearby. NBC Boston reported that the father, Edwards Hip Mejia, told his wife he believed he was being followed and drove toward his home. When he arrived, he allegedly ran toward the parking lot, but officers grabbed their daughter, the wife told Telemundo.
McLaughlin said, "Absolutely not. ICE agents NEVER used a 5-year-old girl as 'bait'—what a disgusting smear," and added that Mejia, described by NBC as an undocumented immigrant, had prior arrests for domestic abuse and strangulation among other charges. "The criminal illegal alien target — with previous arrests for domestic abuse and strangulation, among other charges — abandoned his own child in a car," she said in a post on X. The agency asserted that Mejia fled from the vehicle, leaving his daughter behind, and that officers helped rescue the child and alerted local police to report the abandonment.
NBC Boston reported that local police recovered the girl and returned her to her family. Mejia was detained two days later and is being held in Plymouth, Massachusetts, according to his wife’s account to Telemundo.
The dispute underscores the ongoing political and public relations frictions surrounding immigration enforcement and how media accounts describe ICE operations. The DHS statement and NBC’s reporting reflect a broader national debate over the tactics used by immigration authorities and the framing of such incidents in coverage.
The episode also highlights how social-media commentary and official statements can diverge in real time as families, law enforcement, and media outlets relay competing narratives from the same incident. While authorities push back against what they call a misleading portrayal, other outlets continue to pursue details about the individuals involved and the actions taken by agents on the ground.
