Another New York City public school student has been detained by immigration agents, the Education Department confirmed late Friday.
The student, whose name and school have not been released, attended a legal hearing to seek asylum and was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, the department said.
“This young person should be returning home from school today, surrounded by family — not facing detention,” schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos said in a statement, adding that she was “deeply saddened” by the arrest.
State Sen. Mike Gianaris said Friday that the student was an 11th grader from Grover Cleveland High School in Queens, Fox 5 reported. The Education Department didn’t confirm those details.
This is the second known case of a public school student detained by immigration authorities during President Donald Trump’s second term. The first student, Dylan Lopez Contreras, 20, was arrested by ICE two weeks ago after a routine court hearing in Manhattan and has not been released. Dylan’s arrest has prompted an outcry from local officials, who have called for his release, and his Bronx school, ELLIS Prep, has rallied around him.
As the Trump administration has ramped up its efforts to deport immigrants, other students have also been detained by ICE, including one in Massachusetts and another in Detroit. The student in Massachusetts has since been released. Federal officials did not confirm Friday where the Detroit student is being held.
In New York City, Aviles-Ramos urged families to continue sending their children to school “where they belong.”
“Our commitment to all students, including our newest New Yorkers, remains unwavering,” Aviles-Ramos said. “Our policies have not changed: schools are and will continue to be safe, welcoming spaces for every child.”
A spokesperson for Mayor Eric Adams said that City Hall was gathering more information about the incident.
“As Mayor Adams has said repeatedly, our city is less safe when people are afraid to use public resources — including going to their court hearings — and thus feel forced to hide in the shadows," the spokesperson said in a statement.
The city’s Law Department recently filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of Dylan’s release, claiming his arrest was a “trap” that undermined faith in the court system, threatening “to deter people from accessing the court system on which local governance depends.”
The legal brief marked one of the most direct rebukes from the Adams administration of Trump’s immigration policy.
New York Bureau Chief Amy Zimmer contributed.
Cara Fitzpatrick is a story editor at Chalkbeat. Contact Cara at cfitzpatrick@chalkbeat.org.
