An agent of Immigration and Customs Enforcement waits outside a courtroom at New York Federal Plaza Immigration Court inside the Jacob K. Javitz Federal Building in New York on July 17, 2025. A father was recently arrested by ICE agents at his son’s school bus stop in Bridgeport.
BRIDGEPORT — At a bus stop May 15, a 16-year-old Bridgeport student was waiting in a vehicle with his father, about to begin his commute to school in New Haven.
But their regular morning routine was upended when Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrived as part of “targeted operations” and arrested and detained the father, according to a Wednesday statement from an ICE spokesperson.
The arrest happened on a street corner at 1259 Park Ave. in Bridgeport, state Rep. Christopher Rosario told the Connecticut Post in a Wednesday phone interview. Rosario said he learned of the situation that morning as he was preparing to drop his 16-year-old daughter off at her school bus stop.
“The child in question was 16, my daughter is 16,” said Rosario, a Democrat who represents the district where the incident occurred. “I immediately thought of her, and if that was at our bus stop and the impact that would have not only on the child but the classmates. We’re human after all.”
“I know that it was a traumatizing situation for those kids on that bus,” Rosario added.
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At the time of the father’s arrest, the student was sitting as a passenger in their vehicle near the school bus stop, according to the ICE statement.
The father was identified in the ICE statement as Javier Anibal Melgar, who is from El Salvador. He “entered the United States illegally on May 9, 2005, and an immigration judge ordered that he be removed from the country on Oct. 6, 2005,” the statement said.
“He illegally remained in the United States for over 20 years in violation of U.S. law,” the ICE statement said.
The father was detained after his arrest, but the Connecticut Post could not find his current location through ICE’s online detainee locator.
The ICE officers allowed the father to contact his wife to arrange transportation for their son, and “officers remained with the child to ensure his safety until his mother arrived,” the ICE statement said.
Make the Road Connecticut and the Bridgeport Rapid Response Network have been supporting the student and his family, along with “other families affected by this traumatic incident by connecting them to legal support, helping them navigate post-detention processes and most importantly just being by their side during these moments,” said Mary Elizabeth Smith, deputy director of Make the Road Connecticut, in a statement Wednesday.
“Multiple children and families around the bus stop expressed fear about returning to school on Monday, and we have volunteers and community members engaged in different ways to support these families,” she added.
Through Make the Road Connecticut, the student and his family declined to speak, along with legal counsel involved.
“At this time, the family is focused on navigating this difficult situation, and we want to be respectful of their privacy as they process everything that has happened,” Smith said.
Rosario confirmed that the student, who he said attends Achievement First Amistad High School in New Haven, was reunited with his mother.
Amy D’Angelo, executive director of Connecticut for Achievement First, said in a Thursday statement, “Achievement First does not comment on specific reports regarding law enforcement activity involving students or families.”
“Our schools educate all students, regardless of background,” she added. “We do not ask about or collect information regarding a student’s or family’s immigration status. We also work to ensure that families understand their rights and the policies that govern public school access and student privacy.”
State Sen. Herron Keyon Gaston, D-Bridgeport, also spoke out about the arrest.
“No child should ever have to watch their father be taken away. This man is a law-abiding resident. He was doing something so simple and so human, being a dad, showing up for his (child), and in an instant, that child’s sense of safety was shattered,” Gaston, chair of the Public Safety And Security Committee, said in a statement.
“Moments like this leave deep emotional scars, not just on families, but on entire communities,” he said.
Rosario said he has been in touch with other officials regarding the incident, including U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal and state Attorney General William Tong.
“No child should be separated from their parent while waiting for a school bus,” Tong said in a statement Wednesday. “These kinds of reckless and indiscriminate arrests traumatize kids and do nothing to make our communities safer.”
Blumenthal, in an interview Wednesday, said he was “deeply disturbed” about what happened at the bus stop.
“I am just absolutely aghast that once again, children have been victimized and traumatized by ICE’s brutality and abject cruelty,” he said.
Rosario pointed out that school enrollment in Bridgeport Public Schools declined this year and said the increase of immigration enforcement is a factor.
“Now that we have an actual incident at a bus stop, I am afraid that that number is going to increase,” he said.
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