Latest news with #DylanLopezContreras
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Educators Say Worst Fears Realized as High Schoolers Detained by ICE
Students in the Bronx high school that Dylan Lopez Contreras attended before he was arrested by immigration agents last month have sent hundreds of letters in recent weeks to the Western Pennsylvania detention center where he is being held. Written in a third-period elective class set aside for this purpose, staff made sure to send the missives individually, rather than in a single pile, hoping Contreras would enjoy their support over time while lawyers fight for his release. Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter Contreras, 20, didn't always have time for school — working to help support his family would often pull him away, one of his teachers told The 74 — but he left his mark on the ELLIS Prep campus. He was the one who introduced a fun new tradition, one that continues in his absence, maybe even in his honor: He got the kids to play Uno in their downtime. His teacher could hear their laughter over the game in the hallway. So when it came time to send Contreras a supportive note, telling him to stay strong during a dark time, one of them slipped an Uno card inside the envelope. 'I'm going to give him a +4,' the student told his teacher, referring to a card used to delay or prevent an opponent's victory. 'That would make him laugh.' Contreras' May 21 arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents after a routine mandatory court hearing — and that of a Massachusetts high school junior who was picked up by ICE 10 days later on his way to volleyball practice — have intensified anxiety among educators who serve immigrant students. They say their early fears about President Trump's return to power are now playing out. And while these young men engage in separate legal battles, CNN reported last week that some 500 children who arrived in the United States as unaccompanied minors have been taken into federal custody by agents following 'welfare checks' that many advocates say are wreaking havoc. Families say the children have been increasingly difficult to find and extract from government 'care.' The efforts targeting children — some younger than 10 — may be the result of increased pressure from a reportedly furious White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller to boost the number of immigration-related arrests to 3,000 per day. Related Adam Strom, executive director of Re-Imagining Migration, said some school districts have been preparing for this escalation — creating rapid response teams and family support networks that activate when immigration enforcement occurs — but others are shocked at what they're witnessing. 'For other communities, this is a wake-up call … the unimaginable is happening in communities like their own, to students not so different from the kids in their own classrooms,' Strom said. After much protest, 18-year-old Massachusetts teen Marcelo Gomes da Silva was granted bond and released from custody Thursday. He said he had not showered in six days, had crackers for lunch and dinner, slept on a concrete floor with a metallic blanket and had to use the bathroom in front of 40 other men. Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said he should never have been taken into custody by ICE agents, who later admitted they were looking for his father. 'While ICE officers never intended to apprehend Gomes-DaSilva, he was found to be in the United States illegally and subject to removal proceedings, so officers made the arrest,' homeland security officials said in a Twitter post. The New York and Massachusetts cases come amid others. An 18-year-old student from Colombia living in Detroit, was picked up May 20 as he was driving friends to join their high school field trip. Federal officials said he already had a removal order from a judge. In another case, a 19-year-old Georgia woman was held in an ICE detention facility for weeks after she was arrested by local police in early May on traffic charges that were later dismissed. As the cop told Ximena Arias Cristobal he was taking her to jail, she replied shakily that she couldn't go because she had finals the next week and her family 'really depends on this.' Released on bond May 22, the young woman is now facing deportation to Mexico, a country she left when she was 4. Far younger children — including toddlers — have been defending themselves in immigration court for years. And the many organizations that have helped them through the system are now under attack. Some have been issued stop work orders — Trump ceased funding for their legal representation — leaving them in further jeopardy. Nancy Duchesneau, a senior pre-K-to-12 research manager at the advocacy organization EdTrust, said it's too early to tell if the country's most recent immigration enforcement campaign — manifested in raids and surprise detentions after court appearances — has led to a drop in school attendance as it has in the past. Duchesneau noted that ICE's aggressive tactics disrupt learning and cause harm to a wide swath of students, not just immigrants or those with foreign-born parents. 'When we see trauma happen to other kids, or to other people, we still have emotional impacts from that,' she said. 'Seeing your friends taken away — kids that you know — even if you are an American citizen, we don't know what else could happen.' Like Strom, she said schools should make sure there are clear policies in place for when ICE agents visit campus and that both students and staff know their rights. Related Eric Marquez, one of Dylan's teachers at ELLIS Preparatory Academy, said he taught Contreras for weeks last fall before the young man, who worked as a delivery driver, started regularly missing school. 'If he had a chance to work, he worked,' Marquez said. His teachers understand that struggle. ELLIS Prep is a small specialized school that serves older newcomer students with limited English, nearly all of whom had arrived in the country just weeks or months before their admission. Many are behind on their credits and some have massive gaps in their education. Despite these challenges, Marquez said many go on to college. The 74 published a 16-month-long undercover investigation last year into how schools respond to enrollment requests from students like Contreras. The fictional teen in The 74's Unwelcome to America project, 'Hector Guerrero,' was also Venezuelan. But unlike Contreras, Hector, 19, was refused admission to more than 200 high schools across the U.S. where he had a legal right to attend based on his age. Related At the time of our reporting, Donald Trump, then a leading presidential contender, was once again vilifying immigrants on the campaign trail, a winning tactic for a man who rode a similar wave of xenophobia into office in 2016. Worry was beginning to build over how far he might go as president to deport undocumented children and families. Now five months into his second term, Marquez remembers the moment he learned his student had been arrested and was living out that fear. 'For me, it was soul-crushing,' the teacher said. 'It hit everyone. It was symbolic in a way. He was that over-age, under-credited student with a limited, interrupted formal education. But he was super smart. He totally can go to college. He really can.'
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
NYC says it will support Bronx student from Venezuela detained after attending immigration hearing
New York City said it is standing behind a Bronx high school student from Venezuela who was detained last month by immigration agents after attending a routine court hearing. The city filed an amicus brief on behalf of Dylan Lopez Contreras, a 20-year-old student at Ellis Preparatory Academy, arguing that he is being detained without cause and in violation of his right to due process. Contreras has no criminal history and was pursuing a green card, according to the city's news release Monday. He is being held at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Pennsylvania. "Dylan Lopez Contreras was going through the exact legal proceeding that we encourage new arrivals to go through in order to be able to work and provide for their families — and even accessed the center that we created for migrants to be able to avoid city shelters and become independent," Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement. "But instead of being rewarded for following the law, he was punished for doing what we all asked him to do," the mayor added. The Department of Homeland Security said in a post on X that Contreras illegally entered the country more than a year ago, and that under the Biden administration, he was encountered at the border and released into the U.S. He was detained May 21 and placed in expedited removal proceedings. "Biden ignored the law and chose to release millions of illegal aliens, including violent criminals, into the country with a notice to appear before an immigration judge. ICE is now following the law and placing these illegal aliens in expedited removal, as they always should have been," DHS said. "If individuals have a valid, credible fear claim, they will continue in immigration proceedings, but if no valid claim is found, aliens will be subject to a swift deportation," the DHS added. DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the city's amicus brief. The New York Legal Assistance Group, which is representing Contreras, said he came to the U.S. legally to seek asylum and is arguing for his immediate release. The brief said that using Contreras' mandatory immigration hearing as an opportunity to detain him "threatens to deter people from accessing the court system on which local governance depends." Detaining migrants immediately after their court hearings has become one of the tactics used under President Donald Trump's mass deportation operation. Billy Botch, who works for the American Friends Service Committee Florida, previously told NBC News that the arrests happen almost immediately after the person's case is closed or dismissed. Contreras arrived in the city in the spring of 2024, according to the brief. He has accessed multiple services intended to help immigrants, including visiting a city asylum help center and attending a program at Ellis Prep to help him learn English, the brief stated. He was also working part-time to help support his family, the brief added. Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., said Contreras was "by every standard, contributing to his community and making good on the promise of the American dream." Torres demanded an explanation from the Trump administration. City Council member Carmen De La Rosa said Contreras should be "in school with his friends, not shuffled around a disgraceful immigration system." This article was originally published on
NBC News
04-06-2025
- General
- NBC News
NYC says it will support Bronx student from Venezuela detained after attending immigration hearing
New York City said it is standing behind a Bronx high school student from Venezuela who was detained last month by immigration agents after attending a routine court hearing. The city filed an amicus brief on behalf of Dylan Lopez Contreras, a 20-year-old student at Ellis Preparatory Academy, arguing that he is being detained without cause and in violation of his right to due process. Contreras has no criminal history and was pursuing a green card, according to the city's Monday news release. He is being held at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Pennsylvania. "Dylan Lopez Contreras was going through the exact legal proceeding that we encourage new arrivals to go through in order to be able to work and provide for their families — and even accessed the center that we created for migrants to be able to avoid city shelters and become independent," Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement. "But instead of being rewarded for following the law, he was punished for doing what we all asked him to do," the mayor added. The Department of Homeland Security said in a post on X that Contreras illegally entered the country more than a year ago, and that under the Biden administration, he was encountered at the border and released into the U.S. He was detained on May 21 and placed in expedited removal proceedings. "Biden ignored the law and chose to release millions of illegal aliens, including violent criminals, into the country with a notice to appear before an immigration judge. ICE is now following the law and placing these illegal aliens in expedited removal, as they always should have been," DHS said. "If individuals have a valid, credible fear claim, they will continue in immigration proceedings, but if no valid claim is found, aliens will be subject to a swift deportation," the DHS added. DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the city's amicus brief. The New York Legal Assistance Group, which is representing Contreras, said he came to the U.S. legally to seek asylum and is arguing for his immediate release. The brief said that using Contreras' mandatory immigration hearing as an opportunity to detain him "threatens to deter people from accessing the court system on which local governance depends." Detaining migrants immediately after their court hearings has become one of the tactics used under President Donald Trump's mass deportation operation. Billy Botch, who works for the American Friends Service Committee Florida, previously told NBC News that the arrests happen almost immediately after the person's case is closed or dismissed. Contreras arrived in the city in the spring of 2024, according to the brief. He has accessed multiple services intended to help immigrants, including visiting a city asylum help center and attending a program at Ellis Prep to help him learn English, the brief stated. He was also working part-time to help support his family, the brief added. Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., said Contreras was "by every standard, contributing to his community and making good on the promise of the American dream." Torres demanded an explanation from the Trump administration. City council member Carmen De La Rosa said Contreras should be "in school with his friends, not shuffled around a disgraceful immigration system."
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Mayor Eric Adams changes course, sticks up for 20-year-old high school student rounded up by ICE — after wave of criticism
Mayor Eric Adams belatedly offered support Monday for a Big Apple high schooler rounded up in President Trump's deportation blitz — reversing his original assertion that the Venezuelan migrant's arrest by ICE wouldn't discourage other migrants from seeking city services. The city's top lawyer filed a legal brief backing Dylan Lopez Contreras, a 20-year-old Venezuelan asylum seeker who was detained in a Manhattan courthouse on May 21 after attending a mandatory immigration hearing. Contreras' arrest drew protests from hundreds of his fellow high school students last week, as well as a wave of criticism for Adams after he conspicuously declined to question the migrant's detention. The legal brief sounded the alarm that ICE's tactics threaten to deter people from participating in the court system — a key promise of New York City's sanctuary policies. 'The implications threaten to reach well beyond the immigration arena and reach the countless other matters affecting public welfare that require our residents to appear in court every day,' the brief states. Mayor Eric Adams, in a statement echoing the brief's arguments, said Contreras was punished for following the law. 'Dylan Lopez Contreras was going through the exact legal proceeding that we encourage new arrivals to go through in order to be able to work and provide for their families — and even accessed the center that we created for migrants to be able to avoid city shelters and become independent,' Adams said. But Adams sang a different tune last week when asked by The Post whether Contreras' arrest would discourage other migrants from going through the court system. 'No, I don't,' Adams said. A City Hall spokesperson tried to walk back Adams' initial comments, asserting the mayor was speaking with limited information. Adams has consistently voiced support for most sanctuary city policies that he maintains will ensure anyone, regardless of immigration status, will continue to call police and respond to court, if ordered. The mayor has also pushed to roll back certain sanctuary city policies to increase cooperation with ICE. Hizzoner's openness to reopening a long-shuttered ICE office on Rikers Island and allowing city officials to collaborate with the feds on civil immigration enforcement coincided with his cozying up to Trump and other MAGA-aligned leaders. Contreras' immigration case — which is unfolding in Pennsylvania federal court — potentially puts Adams in the tough spot of appeasing his Trump-friendly allies and assuaging fears of immigrant New Yorkers worried about being unfairly caught in deportation dragnets. 'Dylan has done everything legally necessary to satisfy his immigration process, yet was kidnapped by ICE right in front of his mother after attending his scheduled immigration court hearing,' said Power Malu, president of compassion and Candice Braun, chief empathy officer of Artists Athletes Activists/ROCC NYC, in a statement. 'On the one hand, the mayor of our sanctuary city is encouraging people to continue using public services and on the other hand he is not willing to stand up and protect our residents from wrongful ICE apprehensions.'
