PoliticsUpdated: Jul. 18, 2025, 8:25 a.m.Published: Jul. 16, 2025, 9:27 a.m.An archived photo of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. (Associated Press) A parent was detained by federal immigration officials at a Beaverton school parking lot on July 15, 2025.Associated PressBy Yesenia Amaro | The Oregonian/OregonLiveOne of the latest immigration arrests in Oregon took place Tuesday outside a Beaverton preschool, and it appears to be the first in the state to have happened on school grounds. Before President Donald Trump returned to office, federal authorities considered schools, churches, hospitals and courthouses to be sensitive locations and limited immigration authorities from making arrests there. The policy had been in place since 2011, with the Biden administration issuing its own guidance to further expand the protected areas.The parent who was detained by immigration officials had just dropped off his child at Guidepost Montessori near Oregon 217. The school serves young toddlers through kindergartners, according to its website.“We are deeply disturbed by what took place in our South Beaverton school parking lot,” Angel Ignacio, Northwest regional manager for Guidepost Global Education, said in an email. “While we are still working to understand the full details of the situation, we can confirm that a law enforcement action occurred during school hours and involved the apprehension of a parent by federal agents.” Ignacio wouldn’t clarify if the arrest was carried out by federal immigration agents. Diane Goodwin, a spokesperson for Oregon for All, which consists of several organizations working to advance immigrant justice, confirmed it was an immigration arrest. It was a father who was detained in the school’s parking lot, Goodwin said, and he has a private attorney. But the attorney’s name or other details were not immediately available. A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson late Wednesday identified the individual as Mahdi Khanbabazadeh, 38, a citizen of Iran, who entered the U.S. legally but overstayed the terms of his visa. “Officers attempted to arrest Khanbabazadeh during a traffic stop when he requested permission to drop his child off at daycare,” the spokesperson said in an email. “Officers allowed him to proceed to the daycare parking lot where he stopped cooperating, resisted arrest and refused to exit his vehicle, resulting in ICE officers making entry by breaking one of the windows to complete the arrest.”The spokesperson said Khanbabazadeh’s child was unharmed during the arrest, and the father will remain in ICE custody pending his deportation proceedings. At least one other Iranian citizen was detained by ICE in Oregon late last month when he was driving to a gym in Yamhill County. His arrest came soon after ICE arrested 11 Iranian nationals across the country over a weekend as part of an effort to “proactively deliver on President Trump’s mandate to secure the homeland.”By one imperfect measure, immigration arrests in Oregon have quadrupled under the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown. Federal agents have arrested construction and vineyard workers on their way to work and detained others at or near the federal immigration courthouse following immigration hearings in recent months.Ignacio said the school’s priority is safety and emotional well-being of the children.“We are actively supporting the affected child and family, and we are providing our staff and families with resources to help them process this event with care and sensitivity,” she said. “We are also reviewing the circumstances surrounding this incident and taking steps to ensure that our campuses remain a safe and secure environment for all members of our school community.”MORE BY YESENIA AMAROIgnacio added that because the incident involves federal authorities and private individuals, she is limited in what she can share publicly.“We ask for compassion and respect for the family’s privacy during this difficult time,” she said.-- Yesenia Amaro is on the investigations team. Reach her at 503-221-4395, oryamaro@oregonian.com.Yesenia Amaro is a reporter for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Reach her at 503-221-4395.