NEW YORK \u2014 Dylan Lopez Contreras, the first known New York City student detained by federal immigration authorities as part of President Donald Trump\u2019s mass deportation agenda, has been released after nearly a year in custody, his lawyers said Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Lopez Contreras, a Bronx high school student who fled persecution in Venezuela, was arrested last spring at a routine immigration hearing<\/a>, where he did not have a lawyer. He was transferred to a facility in Pennsylvania, where he was held for 10 months.<\/p>\n His mother, Raiza Contreras, thanked God and the public for rallying behind her son.<\/p>\n \u201cVery soon, my son will be back with his siblings and me,\u201d she said in a statement. \u201cIt is both a relief and a blessing.\u201d<\/p>\n Kate Fetrow, an associate supervising attorney at the New York Legal Assistance Group and one of Lopez Contreras\u2019 lawyers, said \u201cnothing can undo the injustice\u201d of denying him due process, \u201csnatching away the precious time, education and experiences he\u2019s been forced to miss for nearly a year of his young life.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHis release today is a momentous step in the right direction as we continue to fight to restore justice for Dylan and his family,\u201d Fetrow said.<\/p>\n The U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n Lopez Contreras, 21, came to the United States in April 2024 under a President Biden-era entry program that was rolled back when Trump took office.<\/p>\n Lopez Contreras enrolled in ELLIS Preparatory Academy, a specialized public school in the Bronx for older immigrant students, where he was learning English while supporting his mom and younger siblings.<\/p>\n But his acclimation to life in New York came to an abrupt halt last May when at a scheduled immigration hearing, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers followed Lopez Contreras out of the courtroom and arrested him in the lobby.<\/p>\n Advocates and Democratic elected officials came to his defense<\/a>, insisting Lopez Contreras was following the legitimate asylum process for immigrants fearful of returning to their native countries.<\/p>\n During his time in detention, Lopez Contreras battled chronic health issues, but faced setback<\/a> after setback<\/a> from immigration and federal courts as his attorneys fought for his release.<\/p>\n \u201cOur city is overjoyed that Dylan has finally been released from detention and will be back home with his loved ones in the Bronx,\u201d Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a statement. \u201cHe is a New Yorker, and our city is glad to have him home.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDylan did everything right \u2014 he entered legally, worked to support his family and enrolled in school,\u201d added Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who brought Raiza Contreras as his guest to the State of the Union. \u201cHe should have never been detained like this.\u201d<\/p>\n Gov. Kathy Hochul said she urged the president\u2019s border czar specifically to release Lopez Contreras when she recently met with him on immigration issues.<\/p>\n \u201cEarlier this month, I met with Tom Homan to make an appeal for ICE and federal law enforcement to focus on real threats and to stop the attacks on law-abiding people who call New York home,\u201d Hochul said in a statement. \u201cAs part of this meeting I urged the release of Dylan Lopez Contreras, a young public school student who was unjustly taken by federal immigration agents last year.<\/p>\n \u201cToday, after 10 long, painful months in ICE detention, Dylan is finally being reunited with his family.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile I am relieved that Dylan has been released, we cannot stop here,\u201d Hochul added. \u201cThe federal government must work with New York to return all those who have been wrongfully taken and separated from their families.\u201d<\/p>\n _____<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK \u2014 Dylan Lopez Contreras, the first known New York City student detained by federal immigration authorities…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":167646,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[60143,426,68794,9,56,63,65,64,896,60333],"class_list":["post-167645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-dylan-lopez-contreras","tag-kathy-hochul","tag-lopez-contreras","tag-new-york","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-president-donald-trump","tag-raiza-contreras"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167645\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}