The arrest of a Soldotna family by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, including two teens and a 5-year-old, has prompted a wave of concern and motivated lawmakers to hold an investigatory hearing on Feb. 23 on the arrest and detention of minors in Alaska.

“As far as I am aware, the detention of children by ICE in Alaska is unprecedented,” said Rep. Andrew Gray, an Anchorage Democrat, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee. In opening remarks, he questioned if federal agents provided full due process to the family and honored legal protections for children.

ICE agents arrested Sonia Espinoza Arriaga at her home in Soldotna on Feb. 17, and apprehended her three children — ages 18, 16 and 5. Arriaga is married to an Alaska U.S. citizen and was in court proceedings to gain asylum after fleeing violence in Mexico, according to news reports.

The next day, Arriaga and her two younger children were deported to Jalisco, Mexico, where they remain. The 18-year-old was transported and detained at the state’s Anchorage Correctional Complex and transferred on Feb. 20 to a privately run ICE detention facility in Tacoma, Washington, according to news reports.

The arrest comes as ICE operations are ramping up in Alaska and nationwide, amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

Members of the House Judiciary Committee put questions to officials with the Alaska Department of Corrections and Department of Public Safety on the extent of the state’s involvement in ICE operations and detention of minors. They also heard testimony from community members, attorneys and clergy expressing outrage and concern at ICE operations.

Gray said the committee had invited representatives from ICE and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to testify about the arrest and issues raised, but they declined to appear. He said his office has submitted a list of questions to the agencies, including questions about due process, and have not heard back.

Jen Winkelman, Alaska’s corrections commissioner, said the department has an agreement with federal authorities to detain people arrested under federal charges, including with ICE for civil immigration charges.

“Does DOC detain minors?” Gray asked. Winkelman said no.

In the case of Arriaga, her husband, Alexander Sanchez-Ramos, told reporters that initially she and her two youngest children would be held in a hotel in Anchorage and guarded by federal agents, but then he learned they were flown to San Diego the same evening of their arrest, then driven to the Mexico border and deported.

Zane Nighswonger, director of institutions for the corrections department, told lawmakers that individuals arrested by ICE are typically held in Alaska jails and then transferred to federal detention facilities within 72 hours.

The Alaska State Troopers do not participate in ICE enforcement, Leon Morgan, deputy commissioner for the Alaska Department of Public Safety, told lawmakers on Monday. “We don’t coordinate with ICE for immigration enforcement,” he said.

Morgan said for criminal cases, troopers will work with federal partners, but not cases related to immigration enforcement.

Arriaga had reportedly applied for and was in the process of obtaining asylum for her family. A spokesperson for ICE said she had failed to appear for a court hearing in January, prompting deportation, according to news reports.

Elora Mukherjee, a clinical professor of law at Columbia Law School and director of the Immigrant Rights Clinic, testified that ICE is increasingly arresting and detaining children and families.

“From January to October 2025, at least 3,800 children under the age of 18, including 20 infants, were detained by U.S. immigration authorities,” she said, and many are held beyond the legal limit of 20 days.

A Soldotna mother, Alison Flack, whose daughter attended kindergarten with Arriaga’s 5-year-old, testified he was flourishing in school and learning English, and that the community is shaken by his arrest.

“We’re all now faced with the decision of what to tell our children,” she said. “Should I tell her that he moved and just hope and pray that she doesn’t find out the truth? Our state is better than this.”

Clergy members in Anchorage and Soldotna testified that the incident and actions from federal immigration authorities raise grave moral concerns.

“We believe there’s been a serious breach of what we as clergy leaders would consider basic sacred family values,” said Rev. Michael Burke, pastor of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church of Anchorage and speaking on behalf of a multi-faith group.

The Alaska Beacon is an independent, donor-funded news organization. Alaskabeacon.com.