ICE accused of using five-year-old daughter to lure father from home, family says

A Guatemalan family in Leominster, Massachusetts, says ICE agents detained their five-year-old daughter in an effort to pressure her father to surrender, according to interviews and video reviewed by local outlets.

Edward Hip, who has lived in the United States for 22 years, was driving with his autistic daughter last Tuesday when he called his wife and told her he thought someone was chasing him, his wife told Telemundo Nueva Inglaterra. The family says he returned home as federal agents swarmed the area, and the officers detained the girl outside their home. Telemundo Nueva Inglaterra obtained video showing the family attempting to retrieve the child outside their Leominster residence. The family said the agents confronted Hip and told him to leave his home in exchange for his daughter’s release, while the mother pleaded, "give her daughter back," adding that she is special and has autism. Leominster police later arrived to intervene, and the daughter was returned to the family.

Two days after the initial confrontation, on Hip’s wife’s birthday, ICE agents reportedly returned to the home and arrested Hip in front of his residence. The mother said the officers appeared at the doorway and then moved to arrest him, saying, "Is that your daughter? Come here so I can see those IDs," according to the family’s account and video. The mother said, "we are not criminals" as Hip was detained. Officials did not publicly corroborate the family’s portrayal, but the daughter was said to be in good condition, and Hip was being held at an ICE detention center in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

The family told Telemundo Nueva Inglaterra and NBC Boston 10 that the couple has an active asylum claim and two children born in the United States. The Daily Mail cited those outlets and reported on the sequence of events; the outlet reached out to ICE for comment, but no immediate response was provided by publication. The incident has drawn attention to ICE enforcement tactics and the treatment of asylum-seeking families during operations at private residences and in public view.

Immigration advocates have emphasized concerns about enforcement practices involving family members, arguing that such tactics can raise safety and welfare questions for children and others in the household. Officials with ICE have repeatedly described enforcement operations as requiring careful adherence to law, safety protocols, and coordination with local authorities, while avoiding speculation about individual cases.

As the broader policy debate over immigration enforcement continues, the Leominster incident underscores questions about how procedures are carried out in community settings, the protections afforded to children and family members during arrests, and the accountability mechanisms for agents involved in high-pressure operations. Local authorities have indicated they intervened to de-escalate the situation when the child was first detained, but the episode has nonetheless become a focal point for scrutiny by advocates and residents alike.

The case remains under public discussion as families with asylum claims navigate complex legal processes and the U.S. government continues to enforce immigration laws across the country. ICE has not released a public statement on this specific incident as of publication, and inquiries to the agency about the events described in the videos have not yielded an official comment. Meanwhile, the family continues to pursue legal avenues to address what they describe as a traumatic encounter and seek clarity on the rights and protections afforded to children during enforcement actions.