'Easy pickings': ICE nabs Bronx high school student at immigration hearing

A New York City high school student who managed to get his Venezuelan family off the streets through hard work was unexpectedly arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and had his asylum-seeker protections revoked during a routine immigration hearing, The Daily Beast reported on Tuesday evening.

The student's mother, identified only as Raiza, said her 20-year-old son Dylan "had done everything right when he came to America from his native Venezuela," according to the report. "Dylan arrived at the U.S. southern border in April 2024 and was permitted legal entry through a program established by the Biden administration. He applied for asylum and was granted protected status while awaiting a court date, which allowed him to apply for a work permit and a driver’s learner permit," according to Chalkbeat New York.

"Dylan graduated from high school in his home country but still enrolled at a school in the Bronx that caters to older newcomers, as he was determined to attend college in America eventually, his mom said," per the report. He managed to find work as a part-time delivery driver while going to the English Language Learners and International Support (ELLIS) Prep Academy, all while acting as a parental figure for his two siblings in elementary school. According to Chalkbeat, his income let him “scrape together enough money to move the family out of a city-run homeless shelter and into their own apartment.”

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However, when Dylan showed up to the Manhattan courthouse for what was supposed to be a routine hearing, "A judge dismissed the deportation case against him at the hearing — something that initially appeared as good news. However, Dylan quickly learned the dismissal meant the government could now open an 'expedited removal' case against him, thrusting him into a sped-up deportation process with fewer legal checks."

Despite having no criminal record according to Raiza, he was immediately ordered against the wall by ICE agents, then escorted into an unmarked car with his family powerless to help him, according to The Beast: "She said it has been hard to get in contact with Dylan since his arrest because he has been transferred around the country, including stops in New Jersey, Texas, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania. What will happen to him next is unclear."

“They thought he was easy pickings,” ELLIS Prep principal Norma Vega told Chalkbeat. “There are a lot of people out there willing to support.”

The Trump administration has aggressively accelerated deportations and other sorts of removals wherever possible, often sweeping up people who are pillars of their community. Harvard University was left scrambling last month after the ICE arrest of Kseniia Pertova, a Russian-born scientific researcher who fears reprisals in her home country over her criticism of the Ukraine war, and whose imaging work could be critical to a new generation of cancer screening.