NEW YORK CITY (WABC) — A Bronx high school student who spent nearly 10 months in federal custody after being detained by ICE was released on Tuesday.
Sen. Chuck Schumer announced on social media that Dylan Lopez Contreras, 20, had been freed.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a statement that the city was “overjoyed that Dylan has finally been released.”
Dylan’s mother released a statement thanking those “who made the impossible possible.”
“I am grateful to everyone who, in one way or another, played a part in offering support and strength, and were always there,” said Raiza Contreras, Dylan’s mother. “Very soon, my son will be back with his siblings and me-it is both a relief and a blessing.”
Contreras was detained by ICE at a court hearing in Lower Manhattan on May 21, 2025.
He was the first high school student in New York City known to be detained by ICE since President Donald Trump took office for his second term.
In September, a New Jersey immigration judge ordered that Contreras be deported.
His attorneys planned to appeal the decision, saying he was wrongfully detained, was in the U.S. legally, and never missed a court hearing.
Contreras was attending a Bronx high school that caters to older newcomers.
His detention sparked demonstrations, including at the steps of the city’s education department in Lower Manhattan, where demonstrators rallied and demanded Contreras’s release.
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