Parents Furious After American Teen Is Detained By ICE While Eating At School

A teenage American citizen was stunned and outraged when US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents detained him during his high-school lunch break, a case that has inflamed parents, civil rights advocates, and local officials across Oregon.

Shocking Detention of a Citizen Teen

Seventeen-year-old Christian Jimenez, a senior at McMinnville High School in Oregon, was arrested by ICE on 21 November 2025, while off campus during his lunch break, according to his family. His older brother, Cesar Jimenez, told reporters that Christian was driving his father's car around 12:30 p.m. when agents stopped him.

Despite repeatedly asserting he was a US citizen, one agent allegedly smashed the car's driver-side window, ordered him out, and arrested him anyway. Christian was transported to ICE's Portland facility and released shortly before 19:00 the same day.

According to Cesar, ICE is now considering charging him with 'interference or obstruction of an investigation'. McMinnville School District Superintendent Dr Kourtney Ferrua confirmed the incident in a message to families, saying the student had been off campus at the time and was later identified as a US citizen and reunited with his family.

Ferrua added that the district had no ICE presence in its schools and emphasised that only authorised adults are allowed to pick up students. She also acknowledged the emotional toll, 'The experience of an emotional event such as this one can have an impact on all of our students'.

Broader Pattern Raises Concern

The Jimenez case is not isolated. According to Oregon For All, a coalition of more than 100 community organisations, four US citizens were detained by ICE in Oregon in the same week, including Christian.

In a joint statement, coalition director Jess Montoya said some of those detained 'were held for hours without access to an attorney, leaving their family members terrified and desperate to find out what happened'. At least two other citizens were reportedly stopped after filming ICE agents in public.

Meanwhile, in a defence of its action, the Department of Homeland Security maintained that the teen's arrest resulted from 'impeding federal law-enforcement officers'.

Civil-rights advocates warn the case reflects dangerously broad enforcement tactics. Innovation Law Lab and PCUN, a farm-worker union, have filed a lawsuit alleging that ICE is systematically denying detainees access to counsel, a violation of both the First and Fifth Amendments.

Their suit also alleges that ICE has reversed prior internal restrictions on enforcement in sensitive areas such as schools and places of worship.

A Troubling Legal Backdrop

This is not the first time ICE has been sued in Oregon for detaining US citizens. In 2020, the ACLU of Oregon filed a civil action on behalf of Isidro Andrade-Tafolla, a US citizen who had been unlawfully detained outside a courthouse.

His lawsuit argues ICE acted without probable cause, humiliating him and violating his constitutional rights. Court filings in that case also cite the use of unmarked cars and plain-clothes agents refusing to identify themselves, tactics that echo what Jimenez's family describes.

Word of Jimenez's detention has sparked widespread outrage. Some parents say they are now fearful of simply letting their children leave school grounds during lunch. Advocacy groups are calling for urgent reforms; trust must be rebuilt. Oregon For All is demanding policies that explicitly protect US citizens from mistaken ICE detentions, stronger transparency, and guaranteed access to counsel.

At the same time, mental-health resources in McMinnville schools are being mobilised to help students process the distress of the incident.

Critics say the case raises fundamental questions: Why did ICE agents stop a recognised American citizen? Under what authority were they operating off campus? ICE has not publicly explained how it determined Christian was 'impeding' law enforcement, or addressed why his claims of citizenship were allegedly ignored.

One thing is clear: for Christian Jimenez and families across Oregon, lunch hour will never feel safe again.