U.S. Deports Cuban Restaurant Worker in Washington After Arrest in Front of His Two-Year-Old Son

A worker at a Cuban restaurant in Washington state was apprehended by federal immigration officers while taking his two-year-old son to daycare.

The incident unfolded in Shoreline on the morning of Sunday, January 25. According to King 5, ICE agents blocked several lanes on Aurora Avenue North to detain Iván Guzmán, while his son remained strapped in a child seat in the back of the vehicle. Witnesses reported that the boy was left alone in the car for an extended period, surrounded by armed officers.

Verónica Castañeda, owner of El Cubano To Go, shared with local media that she received a frantic call from Guzmán pleading for help. "I was in shock. I thought it was a joke," she said. Upon arriving at the scene, she found the child crying, covered with a blanket. "The baby was terrified."

As reported by The Seattle Times, the child was alone in the car for about 40 minutes. Inside, there were toys, apple slices, a juice box, and a bag of freshly bought tamales for lunch. “It was the typical scene of a father taking his son to daycare,” stated local activist Chris Megargee, who assisted in removing the car after the arrest.

The arrest sparked a swift community response. Neighbors and activists gathered in the area, some filming the operation and others protesting what they deemed an excessive action near a small child. Tensions rose as agents waited for someone to take responsibility for the minor.

Days later, Guzmán managed to reach out to his boss to inform her that he had been deported to Mexico, his country of birth, as Castañeda confirmed to King 5. ICE has not publicly disclosed the reasons for the arrest.

The case has ignited a wave of solidarity. A GoFundMe campaign was launched to raise funds for legal assistance, childcare, and food.

The campaign alleges that Guzmán was "illegally detained by ICE in front of his son" and taken without cause to the Tacoma detention center. "We need a lawyer who can contact him and build a case against his illegal abduction," the fundraising states.

Guzmán was the head cook at El Cubano To Go, a small Cuban eatery located on Aurora Avenue North in Shoreline, established in 2021 by Cuban national Geo Rodríguez and his wife.

"Iván was my right hand, a hardworking man, dedicated to his family," said Castañeda. "When people talk about ‘criminals,’ they don't think of someone who was simply taking his child to daycare before heading to work."

The child is now with his mother, whose identity remains undisclosed for privacy reasons. However, the image of that little boy, alone in the back seat while his father was arrested, continues to resonate with thousands of immigrant families, including many Cuban, who live in fear that a routine day could end in irreversible separation.

This incident occurred just days after another episode that sparked national outrage, when on January 20, ICE agents detained a five-year-old child, Liam Conejo Ramos, in Minnesota during an operation targeting his father.

The image of the boy outside his home after school went viral, drawing significant criticism, which Vice President J.D. Vance dismissed by publicly defending the agents and justifying the immigration action.

For civil rights advocates, both cases underscore a disturbing trend: immigration operations that place children at the heart of trauma, even during everyday moments such as going to school or daycare.