Courtesy @BellaireHigh Instagram Account
Bellaire High School is a Houston ISD campus.
A rising senior in Houston ISD was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents Friday and was being held Monday at the Montgomery Processing Center in Conroe.
An ICE spokesperson confirmed the arrest of Alim Garipov, an 18-year-old student from Russia who attends Bellaire High School. The agency says Garipov was allowed entry into the U.S. in May 2022, but was permitted to stay in the country for only six months.
Friends of the Garipov family told Houston Public Media they were in the process of making an asylum claim to stay in the country legally.
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“A pending application does not confer any type of legal status in the United States,” the ICE spokesperson said in a statement. “If a person enters our country illegally, they are subject to detention or deportation.”
Garipov is not the first Houston ISD student to be detained by ICE during the second term of President Donald Trump, whose administration has ramped up immigration-related arrests and deportations.
Trends under Trump
Earlier this year, Mauro Henriquez, a senior at Sam Houston Math, Science, and Technology Center, was deported to Honduras after spending months in the Montgomery Processing Center. Henriquez was detained Dec. 16 alongside his father during a scheduled appointment with ICE agents. Initially the two were detained together. Henriquez was later separated from his father and moved to a detention facility in Livingston on Feb. 12.
Henriquez’s prolonged detention sparked outrage in the community as more than 100 of his classmates protested outside of their high school in early February, demanding his release and changes to ICE operations throughout the city and country.
RELATED: Texas state leaders target school walkouts as students rally for Houston teen detained by ICE
Nationally, arrests and deportations have surged during Trump’s second term, during which several people in Texas and across the country have died during interactions with ICE agents. Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old father of three, was shot and killed by an ICE agent on July 7 in Houston’s East End.
The Houston Chronicle reported in February the immigrant population in Houston ISD dropped by nearly 4,000 students – or roughly half of the total enrollment drop this year. In a presentation to the Houston City Council in September, state-appointed superintendent Mike Miles suggested enrollment declines may be due to heightened ICE activity under the Trump administration.
“Best person I know”
U.S. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, D-Houston, who represents the area where Garipov lives, said she is in touch with his family and the federal agencies involved.
Garipov is from a rural village in western Russia, according to a Bellaire employee who asked to remain anonymous for fear of losing their job. The employee said Garipov was captain of the school’s swim team last year and has a 3.97 unweighted GPA.
“I cannot say enough good things about Alim,” the Bellaire employee said.
The employee said Garipov’s aunt reached out to them late Friday night, hours after he was detained at Hobby Airport. The aunt asked for Bellaire teachers to send character reference letters to help with Garipov’s case, the employee said.
“I sent her a letter at about 1:30 a.m. vouching for him, his character, his contribution to Bellaire High School, how amazing this young man is, how fortunate we are as a country to have his contributions,” the school employee said.
Courtesy
Alim Garipov is a rising senior at Bellaire High School. Garipov was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents Friday, July 17.
RELATED: Houston ISD soccer standout deported to Honduras after months in ICE detention
A review of Garipov’s resume, which was provided to Houston Public Media by the Bellaire employee, shows he has worked as a tutor and swim coach and was spending his summer as an assistant to graduate students in the biodesign lab at Rice University.
In short essays compiled for a college admissions recommendation letter, Garipov detailed his life as an immigrant since coming to the United States as a 14-year-old without knowing how to speak English. He wrote about working hard to learn the language and shouldering many household responsibilities as the strongest English-speaker in his home. Garipov wrote about navigating taxes, bills, medical appointments, asylum paperwork and insurance for his parents.
“I started from zero and didn’t let that stop me,” Garipov wrote. “Every time the work got harder – whether it was new vocabulary, new subjects, or a new culture – I pushed through instead of pulling back.”
Shepherd Gibson is a classmate and close friend to Garipov.
“He is the best person I know. He tries his best at everything,” Gibson said before breaking down over Garipov’s detention.