At a Glance
- ICE agents detained Adonay Mancia Rodríguez while he picked up food for his daughter
- 6-year-old Annabella was found wandering alone, crying “Where’s Papi?”
- 11 people were arrested during the Morristown, N.J. operation
- Why it matters: The detention has left a young child traumatized and a family fighting for legal help
A routine food run turned into a family crisis when ICE agents detained a New Jersey father, leaving his 6-year-old daughter alone and crying in the street asking for her father.
The Detention
Adonay Mancia Rodríguez was watching his daughter Annabella on January 11 while partner Gabby Rosa worked at Walmart. He stepped out to pick up food from a nearby restaurant in Morristown when ICE agents detained him.
Rosa received frantic calls from a neighbor who spotted the child alone.
“She told me she’d seen my daughter, walking by herself on the street, crying, crying out for her dad, asking, ‘Where’s Papi? Where’s Papi?'” Rosa told News Of Los Angeles.
The ICE Operation
Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin confirmed ICE arrested 11 people during “routine immigration enforcement actions” that Sunday. All were allegedly living in the country without legal permission.
McLaughlin claimed several arrestees have felony offenses. Others, she said, “took advantage of the Biden administration’s open border crisis.”
All 11 are detained and face deportation proceedings. The agency did not confirm if Rodríguez was among them or specify his alleged offense.
The Family’s Story
Rosa wrote on Facebook that Rodríguez “escaped gangs in Honduras” and came to Morristown to join family. She maintains he has no criminal record.
A GoFundMe organized by his relatives states he arrived as a 16-year-old refugee and has lived in Morristown for over a decade. The campaign has raised $23,000 toward a $26,000 legal defense goal.
“He has a huge family here that is devastated, but most of all is his daughter, who is inconsolable,” the page reads. “They are very close and all she wants is to have him back.”
Community Response
Morristown Mayor Timothy Dougherty said the town received no advance notice of the operation and did not participate. The mayor stated the arrests occurred at a local laundromat and nearby businesses.
Dougherty publicly appealed for immigration attorneys to provide pro bono assistance to residents taken into federal custody during the operation.
Rodríguez’s family continues fundraising for legal representation while Annabella struggles to understand her father’s sudden disappearance.
