When federal immigration agents arrested a parent outside a Chula Vista elementary school Wednesday morning, they were targeting her specifically for overstaying her visa, federal officials told KPBS.
Agents arrested Kyungjin Yu, an immigrant from South Korea, because her visa to be in the United States expired close to eight years ago, said Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin in an email.
Agents arrested Yu Wednesday morning as students were arriving for class at Camarena Elementary School in East Chula Vista. McLaughlin confirmed reports that Yu’s children were in the car at the time.
“Officers allowed Yu to call her ex-husband, who arrived at the scene to take custody of their children,” she wrote.
McLaughlin did not say Yu had any criminal history. Being in the U.S. illegally is a civil offense, not a criminal one.
On Wednesday, Chula Vista City Councilmember Michael Inzunza called the arrest “shameful and disgusting.” On Friday, he said agents crossed a line by arresting Yu as students were arriving at school.
“It seems very intentional that they did this in front of a lot of people, in front of children,” Inzunza said. “There's no reason for us to go to the extra step and dramatically and intentionally arrest people whose only crime is being undocumented.”
ICE is now holding Yu at the Otay Mesa Detention Center, according to the agency’s detainee lookup system.
Yu’s arrest is another example of ICE and other immigration enforcement agencies ratcheting up enforcement on people who have overstayed their visas as part of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign.
The Trump administration has repeatedly claimed that those efforts — along with the rest of their sweeping immigration crackdown — are focused on removing people who have committed violent crimes from the U.S.
But as the White House pressures immigration agencies to meet unprecedented arrest quotas, federal agents are arresting more and more people with no criminal histories.
In Chula Vista so far this year, ICE has arrested 30 people, 40% of whom were convicted of crimes in the past, according to the Deportation Data Project.
That’s up from recent years. Last year, ICE arrested just 9 people in Chula Vista. 66% of them had been convicted of crimes. In 2023, ICE arrested 4 people – all of them convicted of crimes, the data show.
Jean Guerrero, an author and former KPBS journalist who has closely covered the Trump advisors overseeing the White House’s immigration crackdown, said these arrests are also part of a broader effort driven by white nationalist ideas.
“The ultimate goal of this is to have a country that is in opposition to a multicultural and multi-ethnic and multiracial democracy,” Guerrero told KPBS’ Midday Edition in June. “They don't believe in multiracial or multicultural America. They want to strangle that in every way that they can.”
Overall, research shows immigrants are far less likely to be convicted of violent crimes than U.S.-born citizens.
KPBS could not locate any criminal history for Yu.
In 2023, Yu’s husband filed a request for a domestic violence restraining order against her in family court around the time the couple filed for divorce, according to San Diego Superior Court records reviewed by KPBS. A judge issued a temporary restraining order, but it’s unclear whether that process went any further.
In her email, McLaughlin said Yu entered the U.S. in 2015 and remained illegally after her visa expired in 2017. In 2022, a judge issued Yu a final order of removal after she failed to show up to an immigration hearing, McLaughlin said.
Inzunza, the Chula Vista council member, said everyone should follow due process if they overstay their legal status and are missing court dates.
But he said the presence of masked agents wearing camouflage and carrying firearms was traumatizing for children who were arriving at school.
“If this was just an expired visa or warrant, why make such a traumatic event?” he said.
Inzunza said Chula Vista officials did not have any immediate plans to explore options to support families affected by immigration arrests. Other Southern California cities like Santa Ana have created relief funds for families affected by immigration raids.
