Alim Garipov, an 18-year-old who will be a senior this fall, moved to the United States from Baltasi, a settlement in south central Russia, in 2022 and attended Pershing Middle School. His family had left their home seeking asylum, and Garipov has a pending asylum case.

Officials with ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Rep. Lizzie Fletcher said she is “working with his family and am in touch with the federal agencies involved,” according to a social media post about Garipov’s case.

Ann Linsley, a teacher at Bellaire High School, said she received an email from Garipov’s aunt at about 11:30 p.m. that he had been detained by ICE and moved to a Conroe ICE facility. His parents and younger sister had been with him when he was detained, but only Garipov was taken into custody, said Linsley, who knew Garipov through BHS’s International Baccalaureate program. 

Garipov’s aunt did not respond to a request for comment.

Linsley, who also is Garipov’s neighbor, said it was unclear why Garipov was at the airport, but said it was possible he was traveling back home after attending a week-long program at Harvard.

Houston Airports and the Houston Police Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Linsley described Garipov as one of the school’s top students, who taught himself English and computer programming. Garipov had also been helping a professor conduct research at Rice University’s Biodesign Lab.

Garipov was also one of the captains of the high school’s swim team and president of the Russian Student Association, said 17-year-old Shepherd Gibson, who described his schoolmate as his best friend, and a sweet and caring person.

“He always offers to drive, he always offers to pay,” Gibson said. “He’s so generous, and he always puts others before himself … he’s just a really caring person, and I don’t think he deserves this.”

Garipov’s arrest comes 11 days after an ICE agent shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52, in Houston’s Magnolia Park neighborhood.

ICE agents in an unmarked vehicle attempted to pull over Salgado on his way to work July 7. While ICE officials say Salgado attempted to weaponize his vehicle against the agents, his family rejects the accusation.