Immigration arrest outside Oregon preschool rattles parents

BEAVERTON, Ore. (AP) — Parents at a preschool in a Portland suburb are reeling after immigration officers arrested a father in front of the school during morning drop-off hours, breaking his car window to detain him in front of children, families and staffers.

“I feel like a day care, which is where young children are taken care of, should be a safe place,” Natalie Berning said after dropping off her daughter at the Montessori in Beaverton on Friday morning. “Not only is it traumatizing for the family, it’s traumatizing for all the other children as well.”

Mahdi Khanbabazadeh, a 38-year-old chiropractor and citizen of Iran, was initially pulled over by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, while driving his child to the school Tuesday. After asking if he could drop off the child first, he continued driving and called his wife to tell her what happened, according to his wife, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to privacy concerns for her and her young child.

His wife rushed to the school, took their child from his car and brought him inside. Khanbabazadeh stayed in the vehicle in the parking lot and asked if he could move somewhere not on school grounds out of consideration for the children and families, his wife said. He pulled out of the lot and onto the street and began to open the car door to step out when agents broke the window and took him into custody, according to his wife.

Kellie Burns, who has two children attending the preschool, said her husband was there and heard the glass shatter.

“More than anything we want to express how unnecessarily violent and inhumane this was,” she said. “Everyone felt helpless. Everyone was scared.”

ICE said it detained Khanbabazadeh because he overstayed his visa, which his wife disputes.

“Officers attempted to arrest Khanbabazadeh during a traffic stop when he requested permission to drop his child off at daycare,” ICE said in a statement. “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.”

Immigration officials have dramatically ramped up arrests across the country since May. Shortly after President Donald Trump took office in January, his administration lifted restrictions on making immigration arrests at schools, health care facilities and places of worship, stirring fears about going to places once considered safe spaces.

After U.S. military strikes on Iran in June, officials trumpeted immigration arrests of Iranians, some of whom settled in the United States long ago.

Khanbabazadeh's wife said he has always maintained lawful status. After he arrived on a valid student visa and they subsequently married, she said, they submitted all required paperwork to adjust his status and were waiting for a final decision following their green card interview months ago.

Khanbabazadeh is being held at the ICE detention facility in Tacoma, Washington, she said.

Guidepost Global Education, which oversees the Montessori school, called the incident “deeply upsetting.”

“We understand that this incident raises broader questions about how law enforcement actions intersect with school environments,” CEO Maris Mendes said in a statement. “It is not lost on us how frightening and confusing this experience may have been for those involved — especially for the young children who may have witnessed it while arriving at school with their parents.”

Parents said they want to support the family and teachers.

“We know it’s happening across the country, of course, but no one is prepared for their preschool ... to deal with it,” Burns said. “It's really been a nightmare.”

A guardian drops off a child at the Guidepost Montessori school on Friday, July 18, 2025, in Beaverton, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

A sign for the Guidepost Montessori school is seen Friday, July 18, 2025, in Beaverton, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

Children are dropped off at the Guidepost Montessori school on Friday, July 18, 2025, in Beaverton, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

A guardian drops off a child at the Guidepost Montessori school on Friday, July 18, 2025, in Beaverton, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

LONDON (AP) — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was meeting the French, German and British leaders in London on Monday as Kyiv’s European allies try to strengthen Ukraine’s hand in thorny talks on a U.S.-backed plan to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer was due to gather with Zelenskyy, President Emmanuel Macron and Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the British leader’s 10 Downing St. residence.

Zelenskyy said late Sunday that his talks with European leaders this week in London and Brussels will focus on security, air defense and long-term funding for Ukraine’s war effort. The leaders are working to ensure that any ceasefire is backed by solid security guarantees both from Europe and the U.S. to deter Russia from attacking again.

U.S. and Ukrainian negotiators completed three days of talks on Saturday aimed at trying to narrow differences on the U.S. administration’s peace proposal.

Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram that talks had been “substantive” and that National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov and Chief of the General Staff Andrii Hnatov were traveling back to Europe to brief him.

A major sticking point in the proposal is the suggestion Ukraine must cede control of its eastern Donbas region to Russia, which illegally occupies most but not all of its territory. Ukraine and its European allies have balked at the idea of handing over land.

In an exchange with reporters on Sunday night, President Donald Trump appeared frustrated with Zelenskyy, claiming the Ukrainian leader “hasn’t yet read the proposal.”

“Russia is, I believe, fine with it, but I’m not sure that Zelenskyy’s fine with it," Trump said before taking part in the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington. "His people love it, but he hasn't read it."

Trump has had a hot-and-cold relationship with Zelenskyy since riding into a second White House term insisting that the war was a waste of U.S. taxpayers’ money. Trump has also repeatedly urged the Ukrainians to cede land to Russia to bring an end to the nearly four-year conflict.

The European talks follow the publication of a new U.S. national security strategy that alarmed European leaders and was welcomed by Russia.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the document, which spells out the administration’s core foreign policy interests, was largely in line with Moscow’s vision.

The document released Friday by the White House said the U.S. wants to improve its relationship with Russia after years of Moscow being treated as a global pariah and that ending the war is a core U.S. interest to “reestablish strategic stability with Russia.”

The document also says NATO must not be “a perpetually expanding alliance,” echoing another complaint of Russia’s. It was scathing about the migration and free speech policies of longstanding U.S. allies in Europe, suggesting they face the “prospect of civilizational erasure” due to migration.

Starmer’s government has declined to comment on the American document, saying it is a matter for the U.S. government.

As diplomatic efforts continued, Russian forces continued to assault Ukraine over the weekend. At least four people were killed in drone and missile strikes on Sunday, while Moscow continues to target Ukrainian energy infrastructure as winter sets in.

Meanwhile, Russian air defenses destroyed 67 Ukrainian drones overnight, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said Monday. The drones were shot down over 11 Russian regions, it said.

Novikov reported from Kyiv, Ukraine.

FILE - French President Emmanuel Macron, right, welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on Dec. 1, 2025 before a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Services on Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, a rescue worker puts out a fire of a residential building damaged by a Russian strike in Sumy region, Ukraine. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Services on Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, a rescue worker puts out a fire of a car in front of a residential building damaged by a Russian strike in Sumy region, Ukraine. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)