ICE arrests another Detroit teen as lawmakers, school district push back

There are now at least four Detroit teens jailed in facilities operated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). 

Elected officials from the Detroit area demanded the young people’s release in a letter sent Tuesday to Kevin Raycraft, director of ICE’s Detroit field office. 

“These Detroit students should be in their classrooms, not torn from their community,” said U.S. Rep Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, in a statement released along with the letter. “It is cruel and unacceptable for ICE to traumatize young people and their families who came here seeking a better life and an opportunity to thrive.” 

Roybert León, Zamora’s stepfather, said Fraser police stopped Santiago and his mother, Evelin, on Sunday evening. Officers then called in federal immigration agents, who arrested and detained mother and son. 

León said the stated reason for the stop was dubious and suggested officers stopped Santiago because of his skin color. Police said the car was driving too slowly. León questioned why a seemingly routine traffic stop turned into an immigration issue. 

“I don’t understand why they did all this to him,” León said, speaking in Spanish. 

Fraser officials did not respond to requests for comment. 

An ICE spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. 

Zamora is a baseball pitcher who wants to play in college, León added. The elected officials’ letter describes the teen as outgoing and good-natured with excellent grades. León and Zamora’s girlfriend, another Detroit student, cried as they discussed his situation. 

Zamora and his family, natives of Venezuela, entered the U.S. last year as asylum seekers at an official border crossing in Texas, León said. 

Zamora, like the three other students currently in ICE detention, attends or recently attended Western International High School. Three of those students — Zamora, Kerly Sosa Rivero, 16, and Antony Sosa, 16, all natives of Venezuela —  are being held at the South Texas Family Residential Center. They are detained along with one parent each at the ICE-run facility. 

ICE is legally barred from detaining children for more than 20 days, but it has blown past that limit in hundreds of cases, sometimes holding minors for as much as five months, according to court filings last week. 

The fourth teen, Mor Ba, 19, a Senegalese migrant, is being held at North Lake Correctional Facility, an immigration prison operated by the for-profit company GEO Group. ICE deported yet another student, Maykol Bogoya-Duarte, to Colombia in June after Rockwood police called U.S. Customs and Border Protection during a May traffic stop. 

Each student is formally seeking asylum in the U.S. due to harsh conditions in their home countries, and all have upcoming court dates. Their lawyers are requesting their release so they can attend their hearings in Detroit, but it’s possible they’ll have to appear while still in detention. 

Leaders of the Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) condemned the arrests following pressure by student activists. 

“The detention of DPSCD students by ICE is unacceptable and deeply troubling to our entire community, including the School Board and Superintendent,” the district’s statement reads. “We stand united with our students and families and call on federal authorities to end these harmful practices immediately and redirect efforts toward programs that strengthen not destabilize our communities.” 

Students rallied on behalf of their classmates on Tuesday evening. Local activists are collecting money for legal fees and asking Detroiters to call Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s office about the issue. 

“Students just like me are being detained and stripped away from their home,” said Tasfia Ononena, a student at Crockett Midtown High School of Science and Medicine. “Teenagers who should be worrying about homework and grades are instead worrying about their future.”

This article first appeared on Outlier Media and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.