‘There is a baby in the car’: Video shows Iranian father arrested by ICE outside of day care

BEAVERTON, Ore. (KPTV/Gray News) – An Iranian man in Oregon was arrested by ICE agents while he was in the car with his son outside of a day care earlier this month.

Video was released which shows the moments 38-year-old Mahdi Khanbabazadeh was removed and escorted from his car by the agents.

The reason given by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for Khanbabadazeh’s detainment is that he overstayed the term of his visa.

In the video, an officer is seen making his way towards Khanbabazadeh’s car before asking him to roll his window down.

Khanbabazadeh can be heard saying “Hello, sir” with the agent responding by asking him for his ID.

“Why, what’s going on? I have a baby in the car,” Khanbabazadeh then says.

As the video continues, the agent asks Khanbabadazeh where he is going, to which Khanbabadazeh replies, “day care.”

After Khanbabadazeh, he video jumps ahead, and he is seen consoling his young son seated in the back of the car.

“There is a baby in the car. Is it hard to wait for three minutes?” Khanbabazadeh says.

Khanbabazadeh was able to drop off his child at day care at Guidepost Montessori School in Beaverton.

After Khanbabasadeh drops off his child, the video jumps to 8:42 a.m., where things escalate.

The video captured the intense moments as an agent broke one of the car’s windows.

Khanbabadazeh then says, “I’m getting out,” to which an ICE agent replies, “You should have gotten out already.”

According to ICE, Khanbabazadeh stopped cooperating, resisted arrest and refused to exit his vehicle, resulting in ICE officers making entry by breaking one of the windows.

Khanbabadazeh’s arrest has sparked major controversy in the area, with Marco Mejia of the Deportation Defense Coalition saying it is traumatic for immigrant communities to witness.

“For me, it’s very traumatic. I am a migrant too, and I come from a country where I grew up under dictatorships. It is a trauma that they created for this family,” Mejia said.

A witness to Khanbabadazeh’s arrest was also frustrated at the way the situation was handled.

“If they keep doing this, they are creating a generation of people that are going to be traumatized and very angry about what the government is doing,” Mejia said.

Khanbabazadeh is now detained in an ICE facility in Tacoma where he is awaiting a bond hearing.