Los Angeles Unified officials said a 15-year-old boy with disabilities was briefly detained at gunpoint near Arleta High School in a case of mistaken identity — an account federal immigration authorities disputed Tuesday, saying agents were targeting a man with a criminal record in the area.
District leaders said the boy, a student from San Fernando High School, was handcuffed Monday morning by individuals who refused to identify themselves as immigration enforcement officers and released when it became clear he was not the person they sought. They said the incident has left him shaken just days before the school year begins.
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“That is disturbing, it is heartbreaking, it is reprehensible,” Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said at a news conference later that day. “It is unacceptable, not only in our community, but anywhere in America.”
In an emailed statement, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson denied that agents had targeted Arleta High School, saying the operation was aimed at a “criminal illegal alien” with suspected gang ties in the vicinity.
“Allegations that Border Patrol targeted Arleta High School are FALSE,” a CBP spokesperson said. “Agents were conducting a targeted operation on criminal illegal alien Cristian Alexander Vasquez-Alvarenga — a Salvadoran national and suspected MS-13 pledge with prior criminal convictions in the broader vicinity of Arleta.”
The spokesperson did not address the district’s claim that the boy’s detention was a case of mistaken identity.
The White House was asked about the incident during Tuesday’s press briefing but declined comment. A spokesperson referred reporters to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security.
Monday’s incident came amid a summer of heightened tension across the region, following a wave of immigration raids that started in early June which prompted widespread protests across Los Angeles, some of which turned violent. In response to the unrest, President Trump federalized the California National Guard, deploying some 4,000 troops and 700 Marines to the city in a move criticized by Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass.
Legal challenges are now underway over whether that military deployment violated the Posse Comitatus Act, which limits the use of military troops in domestic law enforcement.
LAUSD Board Member Kelly Gonez, who represents Board District 6 in the East San Fernando Valley, the area that includes the teenager’s school, condemned the incident.
“I find it abhorrent that unidentified federal agents would handcuff, detain, and terrorize a child with disabilities right outside a public school,” she said in a statement Tuesday. “Allegedly a case of mistaken identity, this action wasn’t about ensuring law and order. It was a disproportionate, traumatizing attack meant to sow fear and further harm our East Valley communities.”
Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, called the incident “astounding” and said it showed “how far this government is willing to go in their obsession to hunt immigrants.”
The incident occurred just days before around 540,000 LAUSD students are scheduled to return to class on Thursday, Aug, 14. It came hours before district officials — joined by a coalition of city, school board and local leaders — held a press conference reaffirming their commitment to protect immigrant students and families.
Carvalho said the boy was pulled from a vehicle and placed in handcuffs while accompanying his grandmother to drop off a family member at the school to register for classes.
The superintendent said officers initially claimed they were not enforcing immigration law, nor were they part of ICE, but video evidence – which the district is not releasing to protect the student’s privacy – showed police and Board Patrol agents.
Carvalho said a school principal and L.A. School Police officers intervened, and the teenager was released once it was clear the agents weren’t pursuing him.“But the release will not release him from what he experienced, the trauma will linger, it will not cease,” he added.
LAUSD officials have called for no-enforcement zones within a few blocks of every campus — one hour before school starts and one hour after it ends — amid stepped-up immigration operations in Southern California this summer, but federal officials have not said whether they will honor that request.
District officials said they have bolstered safety measures around schools, including faster coordination with local agencies, a stronger presence in impacted communities, and rapid-response protocols if enforcement activity occurs.
“Our message is clear: every child belongs in school, and we will do everything in our power to keep our campuses safe, supportive, and welcoming for all,” a district spokesperson said Tuesday.
Staff Writer Kaitlyn Schallhorn contributed to this report