ICE agents arrested a high school student in New York City after he showed up to what he believed would be a routine immigration check-in.
The student’s mother, Raiza, told Chalkbeat New York that her son, Dylan, was met by ICE agents at a courthouse in lower Manhattan after he unwittingly lost his legal protections as an asylum-seeker and was detained minutes later.
Raiza declined to give her full name to the website, but said her 20-year-old son had done everything right when he came to America from his native Venezuela.
Dylan arrived at the U.S. southern border in April 2024 and was permitted legal entry through a program established by the Biden administration. He applied for asylum and was granted protected status while awaiting a court date, which allowed him to apply for a work permit and a driver’s learner permit, his mom told Chalkbeat.
Dylan graduated from high school in his home country but still enrolled at a school in the Bronx that caters to older newcomers, as he was determined to attend college in America eventually, his mom said.
He used his protected status to secure a part-time job as a delivery driver while attending the English Language Learners and International Support Preparatory Academy, otherwise known as ELLIS Prep. Academy.
Chalkbeat reported that his income enabled him to “scrape together enough money to move the family out of a city-run homeless shelter and into their own apartment.” Raiza added to Chalkbeat that Dylan is a father figure to his two elementary-aged siblings.
Things took a turn for the worse on Wednesday. Dylan, who has no criminal record, according to his mother, turned up at a Manhattan courthouse believing it would be an uneventful check-in.
A judge dismissed the deportation case against him at the hearing—something that initially appeared as good news. However, Dylan quickly learned the dismissal meant the government could now open an “expedited removal” case against him, thrusting him into a sped-up deportation process with fewer legal checks.
The repercussions were felt immediately. Raiza said she and her son were followed into a courthouse elevator by ICE agents, who then ordered them against a wall as soon as they exited.
“When we got out of the elevator, they said, ‘get up against the wall,’” Raiza recalled to Chalkbeat. While Dylan was placed in handcuffs, Raiza said that “another girl was screaming while she was detained.”
Raiza said she was briefly placed in handcuffs, too, but was released after pleading with officers that she had young children at home. Dylan was then taken away by the agents and placed in an unmarked car.
Raiza told Chalkbeat that Dylan did not have a lawyer at his hearing because they could not afford one. She said it has been hard to get in contact with Dylan since his arrest because he has been transferred around the country, including stops in New Jersey, Texas, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania. What will happen to him next is unclear.
“It seems like a dirty game on their part,” Raiza told Chalkbeat. “When someone appears in front of a judge, it’s because they don’t have any criminal record, they want to do the right thing. … The only thing he wants is to study.”
Dylan’s abrupt loss of legal protections, followed by expedited removal proceedings, was not a one-off last week. Multiple reports stated that it was part of a crackdown aimed at dismissing asylum cases, which can take years, and instead opening expedited removal cases.
Texas immigration attorney Haim Vasquez told CBS News that the Board of Immigration Appeals recently approved this new tactic, which is targeting those who are new to the country and classified as “arriving aliens.”
ELLIS Prep Principal Norma Vega suggested the crackdown, at least in Dylan’s case, was an easy way to arrest migrants who are going about things the right way.
“They thought he was easy pickings,” she said, according to Chalkbeat. “There are a lot of people out there willing to support.”
The New York City Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos confirmed Dylan’s arrest in a statement.
“Our hearts go out to the student who was detained by ICE, and we are deeply saddened for their family,” she said. “While this incident did not occur on school grounds, we want to reassure our families: we will continue to speak out and advocate for the safety, dignity, and rights of all of our students.”
ICE did not respond to questions emailed by the Daily Beast.
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