ICE detainment near Tempe school: Mother, son taken to Texas ahead of graduation ceremony

A mother and her son were detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement near a Tempe school Tuesday and taken to a detention center in Texas, officials said.

Federal agents were seen near Cecil Shamley School, which is near McKellips and Scottsdale roads, north of Weber Drive, according to the Tempe Elementary School District.

“The parent and federal agents were present near the school building in the Shamley neighborhood on Tuesday, May 26. The detention did not take place on school property,” the district said in a statement.

Principal Bronwyn Sternberg said the agents never entered school grounds.

“The parent signed the student out of school in accordance with school procedures,” Sternberg said in a Wednesday statement. “To ensure safety, we are modifying tomorrow’s eighth grade promotion ceremony.”

Parents weren’t allowed to attend Thursday morning’s eighth grade promotion ceremony. However, sixth and seventh graders were allowed to attend the ceremony. A video will be shared with parents of the eight grade participants.

Sternberg said the change was in the best interest of students and staff.

Tempe student, mother taken to Texas after ICE detention

Meanwhile, two congressmen are focused on the best interests of the mother and son.

U.S. Rep. Greg Stanton, who represents large swaths of the East Valley in Congress, said the family should be at home celebrating their son’s eight-grade promotion, not in ICE detention at the Dilley Immigration Center in Texas.

“I just returned from a visit to Dilley yesterday, where I met with families in similar circumstances,” the Democrat said in a letter to school families Wednesday. “What I saw there was heartbreaking, and this case reflects the same outrageous, misguided priorities under Trump’s mass deportation agenda.”

Texas Congressman Joaquin Castro confirmed that the parent and child were in Texas, condemning the Dilley detention facility as a “trailer prison.”

The mother and son arrived in San Antonio this afternoon. Our children should be at school and with their family and friends. Not locked away at the Dilley trailer prison. Thank you @RepGregStanton for seeing the conditions at Dilley firsthand and fighting against this cruelty. https://t.co/BzcUAG3FWg

— Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) May 27, 2026

An investigation by ProPublica revealed that many children and teens who are held at the center experience depression, isolation and uncertainty about the future.

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