LEOMINSTER — A federal immigration arrest in Leominster has ignited public scrutiny after a local family alleged that agents used their 5-year-old daughter as leverage to coax her father into custody — a claim ICE strongly denies.
The incident occurred on September 16, 2025, outside a home on Ash Street, where federal agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had been pursuing Edward Hip Mejia, an undocumented immigrant with alleged prior arrests. According to his family, Mejia was followed home by ICE agents, who then detained the couple’s 5-year-old daughter — a U.S. citizen and reportedly autistic — in the driveway as they demanded he surrender.
In a video recorded by the family, the girl is seen sitting beside an SUV, surrounded by agents in tactical gear labeled “POLICE,” while officers can be heard saying, “Is that your daughter? Come here so I can see those IDs.”
The family claims the agents refused to return the child to the house and instead left her outside, alone, as a means of pressuring Mejia. The girl’s mother, who has asked not to be named for safety reasons, said her daughter was terrified and that the family is still processing the trauma…