Federal officials confirm taking 4 people into ICE custody in Ypsilanti

Federal authorities have confirmed that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement took four people into custody earlier this week in Ypsilanti, Michigan. 

An agency spokesperson provided that statement after CBS News Detroit asked for a statement regarding ICE-related activity in that city after both the Ypsilanti schools superintendent and the Washtenaw County sheriff said parents were taken into custody near a school bus student drop-off spot. 

Although Tuesday's apprehensions did not happen on school property, Dr. Alena Zachery-Ross, Ypsilanti Community Schools Superintendent, said parents were involved and called the circumstances "a deeply distressing situation."  

An agency spokesperson with ICE, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, said,  "ICE does NOT target schools for enforcement actions or bus stop locations. To be clear, NO children were present during these arrests." The circumstances in Ypsilanti, they said, involved a targeted operation during which ICE officers sought to apprehend people who had been issued "final orders of removal from the United States." 

During the operation on Tuesday, the ICE spokesperson said agency officers saw two vehicles leave a home they had been watching and conducted vehicle stops. 

During the first vehicle stop, they said, officers located and detained Delmy Yamileth Molina Vasquez and Gissel Alejandra Pavon Nunes, who are both from Honduras, and Carolina Hernandez-Aviles, who is from Mexico. All three entered the United States during the Biden administration, ICE added in its report. 

During the second vehicle stop, officers located and detained Elder Alberto Veliz-Mencia, who is from Honduras. 

"All of the illegal aliens remain in ICE custody pending immigration proceedings and will receive full due process," the agency said. 

In the meantime, the agency says it encourages those who are in the United States illegally to "take control of their departure with the CBP Home App. The United States is offering illegal aliens $2,600 and a free flight to self-deport now. We encourage every person here illegally to take advantage of this offer and reserve the chance to come back to the U.S. the right legal way to live the American dream. If not, you will be arrested and deported without a chance to return."

The above video originally aired on Jan. 28, 2026.