Resurfaced Story Causes Confusion: CBP Officers, not ICE, Detained Child with Cerebral Palsy

A narrative is circulating about a 10-year-old living with cerebral palsy who was allegedly taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers from a hospital where she was recuperating post a gallbladder surgery. This purported incident indeed transpired, but it dates back to October 2017 during the initial term of President Donald Trump. The inaccurate aspect of this narrative is the identification of the authorities involved as ICE officers, when they were, in fact, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers.

As of August 2025, various posts on social platforms claimed that ICE officers were responsible for detaining a minor afflicted with cerebral palsy, while she was in a hospital in post-operative care following gallbladder surgery. Conjoined with these claims was a post credited to the official account of ICE stating their protocol to ‘avoid making arrests at sensitive locations such as hospitals, schools, or churches, except in dire circumstances that pose a serious public safety threat.’

Digging deeper into the incident revealed that the basis for these allegations holds truth in it — trailed back to October 2017. The incident did indeed make headlines, and led to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filing a lawsuit against the handling of the situation. However, it was the CBP officers who detained the girl, not the ICE agents. Hence, the narrative contains both elements of truth and falsehood.

The story revolves around Rosa Maria Hernandez, who was transported into the U.S. from Mexico without proper documentation at just three months of age, to live in Laredo, Texas. According to reports, Hernandez’s mother brought her to the States in pursuit of advanced medical care for her child.

Fast forwarding to October 24, 2017, Rosa Maria, then aged 10, was being transported by an ambulance, in the company of her older cousin, from Laredo to a children’s hospital in Corpus Christi for urgent gallbladder surgery. The ambulance was pulled over at an inland checkpoint by the Border Patrol agents, who found out Rosa Maria was staying in the country illegally. They pursued the ambulance to the hospital.

As the representatives of the family, lawyer Leticia Gonzales conveyed to a news media that the agents ‘asserted that they had to maintain a constant watch on her and insisted on keeping her hospital room door open.’ Post her discharge from the hospital, doctors advised that Rosa Maria be handed over to ‘a relative who understands her medical and psychological requirements.’ Contrarily, the authorities transferred her to a San Antonio juvenile detention facility for immigrant children, over 150 miles from Laredo.

Given this situation, Rosa Maria was placed in deportation hearings. The American Civil Liberties Union took actions against the government to secure her freedom, and she was finally released to her family on November 3, 2017.

To shed light on the policy followed at the time, the Department of Homeland Security enforced a ‘sensitive locations policy,’ that had its roots going back to the administration under President Bill Clinton. This edict urged officers to ‘show discretion in making detentions at sensitive spots — including schools, churches, hospitals, funerals, and protests.’ This policy was upheld during President Donald Trump’s initial presidency, running from 2017 till 2021.

In response to the incident, Border Patrol informed news organizations that Rosa Maria wasn’t taken into custody at the hospital, which is a sensitive location, but at the checkpoint. As per the Biden administration, the sensitive locations policy was broadened to include locations ‘where children gather,’ ‘social services establishment[s],’ and locations ‘where disaster or emergency response and relief is being provided.’ The policy endeavors to prevent ICE and CBP from operating in these areas ‘as much as possible,’ while maintaining necessary exceptions.

The uneasy tranquility, however, did not last long. In January 2025, soon after President Trump reassumed office, the sensitive locations policy was completely revoked. On January 20, a fresh directive from DHS overrode the regulations set by the Biden administration.

An excerpt from the new directive pointed out to the need for ‘officers to exercise enforcement discretion to consider a host of interests, including the implications of any potential law enforcement action occurring at a sensitive location,’ and it called for the continued use of this discernment alongside practical wisdom.

A subsequent directive issued on January 30 stated that ‘DHS is not framing regulations as to where immigration laws can be enforced,’ and allotted that responsibility to the assistant field office directors and assistant special agents in charge.