Dylan López Contreras, the first high school student detained by ICE in New York, released after nearly 10 months

On May 21, 2025, Dylan López Contreras, a 20-year-old Venezuelan (now 21), went to immigration court in New York for a routine hearing, but ended up being handcuffed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) inside the courtroom. He became the first high school student in the state detained under the tactic of arresting someone during a hearing. He spent nearly 10 months at the Moshannon Valley Detention Center, a remote facility in Pennsylvania, until Thursday, March 18, when he was released. He was granted parole, a procedure known in the U.S. As “own recognizance.” “He will have to follow ICE’s monitoring protocol and is wearing an ankle monitor,” Power Malu, founder of ROCC NYC, the organization that has provided him with legal support since his detention, told EL PAÍS.

What the young immigrant has experienced these past few months has been a true nightmare. His relatives claim that he was “deceived, trapped, and kidnapped” by immigration authorities. López Contreras entered the country legally through the now-defunct CBP One program in 2024. He has no criminal record, enrolled at Ellis Preparatory Academy in the Bronx, obtained a work permit, and Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS).

“Without legal representation, Dylan was tricked by immigration judge Edward Grogan and the government prosecutor into dismissing his asylum claim, which led to his immediate arrest. Judge Grogan retired shortly after that decision. Another judge, Olivia Cassin, later ruled that Grogan’s decision was erroneous and deeply prejudicial, effectively condemning the legal basis that led to his detention,” Malu explained to EL PAÍS regarding the irregularities in the case. Judge Cassin was dismissed shortly after issuing the ruling.

Dylan’s case has since passed through several judges. It was reassigned from Adam Panopoulos to Judge Maria Akalski, a magistrate with a 96% asylum denial rate, according to migrant advocacy organizations. Akalski did indeed deny López Contreras’s request, but his lawyers appealed the decision and are still awaiting a response. Months earlier, they also filed a writ of habeas corpus demanding that the government justify the arrest of the foreign student. This petition is also still pending.

Dylan’s case in Congress

New York Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer invited Dylan’s mother, Raiza Contreras, to the State of the Union address to denounce the illegal detention of the young Venezuelan man by ICE, while he maintains an intense debate with Republicans to reform the operation of the Department of Homeland Security, whose funding remains frozen by Congress until an agreement is reached on the matter.

“This invitation allowed my son’s silenced voice to be heard,” Contreras told EL PAÍS in an interview, adding, “I felt like interrupting President Trump’s speech to tell him that not all immigrants are criminals. Why does he lump us all together when he knows that only a small minority have committed any crimes? My son doesn’t even have a traffic ticket, and they arrested him. It can’t be.”

The Democratic caucus in the Senate has insisted on the need to establish clear safeguards, such as prohibiting the enforcement of immigration law in sensitive locations like schools and courts, requiring officers to show their identification, prohibiting the use of masks during police operations, preventing racial discrimination, requiring the use of body cameras, guaranteeing access to a lawyer in detention centers, and strengthening oversight and coordination with state and local authorities.

Senator Schumer was one of the first to celebrate López Contreras’ release. “Thank God Dylan Contreras is coming home. He will soon be back in New York reunited with his mother Raiza, his family, and the Bronx community that loves him,” he said in a statement. “Dylan did everything right, he entered legally, worked to support his family and enrolled in school, and he should have never been detained like this. I am glad the administration has heeded my calls and righted this wrong, but there are many more families like Dylan’s that have been torn apart because of ICE. The chaos experienced by so many communities and families at the hands of ICE must end.”

Dylan is now free and back with his family in New York, but the path ahead for him to obtain asylum remains uncertain. The military intervention in Venezuela, which led to Nicolás Maduro’s removal from power, and the recently passed Amnesty Law, present a challenge for all Venezuelans seeking asylum in the United States. “If they continue making arrests in Venezuela, what do you think can be expected of people like us who are seeking protection in another country? As long as it remains a dictatorship, we cannot return,” said Raiza Contreras before the long-awaited embrace with her son after more than 10 months apart.

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