Where is our scared Dunmore sixth grader who has disappeared from her hometown after armed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents took away her daddy? Will anybody representing liberty and justice in America offer this child mercy and compassion? Will anyone treat her as we would like others to treat us and our children?
On Friday I got the ICE side of the story even though the official ICE press release got the name of the town wrong.
In response to my request, Jason P. Koontz, Public Affairs Officer for the Philadelphia Field Office Homeland Security Investigations/Enforcement and Removal Operations, provided this statement about what happened:
“ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations Philadelphia field office arrested Concepción Castro-Delcid, 44, a Honduran illegal alien with a final order of removal, during a targeted enforcement operation in Scranton, Pennsylvania on Oct. 29.
As officers approached and identified themselves as federal law enforcement, Castro-Delcid abruptly fled on foot, weaving through neighborhood yards and attempting to vault a backyard fence, actions that placed both the pursuing officers and nearby residents at unnecessary risk. In keeping with the ICE Use-of-Force Policy, agents applied only necessary, hands-on control techniques to stop his escape and secure him. No intermediate weapons or chemical agents were used. Castro-Delcid incurred two minor scrapes and received on-scene treatment. As has been previously reported in the local media, all personnel were clearly marked as federal officers, and the incident was fully documented and is subject to routine supervisory review.
An immigration judge ordered Castro-Delcid removed in absentia on Feb. 23, 2023, after he failed to appear for immigration proceedings stemming from a 2019 border apprehension in Hidalgo, Texas.
During processing at the Pike County ERO office, Castro-Delcid informed officers that he is the primary caregiver of his minor daughter, who also has a final removal order. ICE’s Juvenile and Family Management Unit immediately initiated re-unification protocols to maintain family unity, coordinating with the Dunmore Police Department, the Dunmore School District, and contracted transport specialists. The family was re-united and will be returned to Honduras expeditiously.”
Yet the story of our little one-time neighbor and her daddy doesn’t end there.
Did ICE, Dunmore police or both seize this child at her elementary school? Does the Dunmore School District have a written policy that protects children from being detained by federal, state or local police? Does the Dunmore Police Department have a written policy that establishes independence between them and ICE so the federal government does not use Dunmore police as pawns for such controversial law enforcement tactics?
These and other grim questions remain unanswered. We still don’t know where Dunmore’s young grade schooler is imprisoned. This child is still one of us, a child who needs all the support she can get.
Dunmore Mayor Max Conway issued a statement Thursday on his Facebook page about the ICE operation in his town. Conway’s words provided a good start but his sentiment didn’t go far enough.
Pennsylvania State Sen. Marty Flynn, who lives in Dunmore, also issued a statement. Another good start but not nearly enough.
Other than publicly beating their breasts about ICE professionalism, logic, fairness and understanding, what will these two elected officials, both fathers, and others sworn to uphold the public trust do to help us learn details about what exactly happened to this vulnerable child?
Conway failed to answer the two emails I sent him. He also failed to return a Friday phone call to his office. An assistant who answered the phone said she would make sure Conway knew I wanted to talk with him. Flynn also failed to respond to a Friday phone call to his office asking what he will do to help us find out more about Dunmore’s lost child.
Whom among our elected and appointed public servants will you pressure to fight ongoing ICE enforcement that demonizes immigrant families including children? How hard are you willing to work to help this child Conway described in his statement as “that little girl in her Dunmore Bucks sweatshirt with her name on the back?”
Countless residents who live in what long ago was called Bucktown once stuck yard signs in the grass outside their homes proclaiming deep pride in “God, Family and Dunmore Bucks,” the longtime antlered school mascot. Although many people have spoken out in support of this father and daughter, good citizens must do more than accept this tragedy as business as usual.
Good citizens fight back.
Armed agents have snared one of Dunmore’s own, a little lost Buck who might desperately want to come home.
