An undocumented immigrant from West Haven has been arrested by federal immigration agents in Connecticut and activists say the man's 9-year-old son was used "as bait" to lure the immigrant in so he could be taken into custody.

A lawyer for Mynor Espinoza, the undocumented immigrant arrested June 5, said Friday that asking parents to sign federal documents for their children in order to arrest the parents appears to be a new and disturbing tactic by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Connecticut.

"My colleagues and I have been witnessing these deceptive practices for the last couple of months," said Yazmin Rodriguez, a lawyer with the Esperanza Center for Law and Advocacy and Espinoza's attorney.

"This new practice of luring parents with the sole purpose of tearing them apart from their children is the most despicable and inhumane practice we have witnessed," Rodriguez said.

A spokesman for ICE failed to respond Friday to requests for comment on this story.

Espinoza, a 31-year-old immigrant from Guatemala, is being detained at a federal facility in Greenfield, Mass., and a bail hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.

According to his lawyer, Espinoza first attempted to enter the U.S. illegally in 2009. He was caught at the border and returned to his native country, but later that year successfully managed to get into the U.S. with his wife, Dulce. Espinoza has been working as a mason and living in West Haven, and he and his wife now have three young children who were born in the country and are U.S. citizens.

His 9-year-old son, a fourth child who was not born in the country, is also undocumented and was picked up about a year ago attempting to enter the U.S. unaccompanied. Federal officials turned the boy over to his father after Espinoza promised to bring the child to any scheduled immigration hearings and to cooperate with requests from ICE officials.

Rodriguez said Espinoza was requested to come to ICE offices in Hartford to sign some papers for his son, and was immediately arrested when he did so and transferred to detention in Massachusetts.

Rodriguez said Espinoza has no criminal record in the U.S. and that he was fleeing persecution in Guatemala and would face "imminent danger" if forced to return there.

According to Rodriquez, there have been at least three other similar cases in Connecticut and more from around the U.S.

"This is the latest tactic," Carlos Moreno, interim state director of the CT Working Families Party, said of the Trump administration's aggressive push to expel undocumented immigrants.

ICE has come under fire in recent months for arresting undocumented immigrants appearing in state courts for even minor infractions or seeking restraining orders in spousal abuse cases. The New York Times reported this week that judges and defense lawyers in New York have been playing cat-and-mouse games with ICE agents, hoping to protect undocumented immigrants not facing major criminal charges from being arrested by in courthouses.

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