A five-year-old boy was in the back seat of a car when a federal agent fired seven rounds into it on a street in New York City’s Marble Hill neighborhood earlier this month. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter to get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. A writer who grew up in the area reflects on the incident, stating that nothing justifies such violence, especially with a child present. The question is what he saw, and what he will carry.
The writer describes Marble Hill as a hard-working, largely immigrant community, where generations of their family have lived, with many still residing on West 225th Street. The raised 1 train rumbles past every few minutes, and residents go about their daily lives, a scene familiar to anyone who has spent time there.
ICE Arrests and Community Response
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests in New York City peaked in July, reaching the highest level since the start of 2025. In Corona, Queens, community volunteers have been distributing know-your-rights information to parents at school pickup, highlighting the widespread anxiety among families. This anxiety has followed families to the school door, affecting children directly and indirectly.
According to CCC’s 2026 Keeping Track of New York City’s Children report, an estimated 267,000 children, or 17% of the city’s children, live in mixed-status households where at least one family member is undocumented. More than a quarter of these children are under age 5, younger than the boy involved in the Marble Hill incident. Immigrant families with children live in every borough, from Washington Heights and Inwood, where 20% of residents are non-citizens, to Corona and Elmhurst, where the share is 37%.
Impact on Children’s Well-being
Research demonstrates the emotional toll of immigration enforcement on children. A Stanford study found that daily student absences rose 22% among over 100,000 children in California following immigration raids last year. Another study revealed higher post-traumatic stress symptoms in U.S.-born children whose parents faced detention or deportation. Children do not need to be the target of enforcement to be harmed by it; witnessing it or fearing it is enough.
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A school system already grappling with chronic absenteeism cannot afford the additional barrier of fear. While New York City prohibits federal agents without a judicial warrant from entering public schools, children remain vulnerable in the spaces between home and school, such as sidewalks and drop-off lines. This vulnerability is exacerbated by the rescinding of protections in January 2025, which once limited enforcement near schools.
Calls for Action
City and state leaders are urged to take action on three fronts: extending protection protocols beyond school buildings to include drop-off and dismissal areas, as well as child care centers; providing multilingual notifications to families, given that an estimated 216,600 children live in households with limited English proficiency; and funding mental health support in schools and early childhood programs, starting with areas like Marble Hill. Every provider should know what to do when enforcement happens nearby.
Every public school is now required to have a liaison for students who avoid school due to social-emotional concerns. Training these liaisons to recognize enforcement-related fear is key, especially in schools near enforcement activity. This training should begin with schools in high-activity areas.
While New York City cannot set federal enforcement policy, its leaders can advocate for restoring protections that once shielded schools and their surroundings. The children of Marble Hill, and others like them, deserve to walk home from school without carrying the weight of such traumatic experiences. We’d love to hear how The 74’s reporting is helping educators, researchers, and policymakers. Tell us how.
