Dylan, Bronx high school student arrested by ICE, speaks out from immigration detention

The 20-year-old Bronx high school student who was detained after an immigration hearing last month has released his first statement, describing being taken into custody and thanking his classmates for their support.

Dylan, who is from Venezuela and the first known New York City public school student to be detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in President Donald Trump’s second term, issued the statement through his lawyers while being held in Pennsylvania. He said plainclothes ICE officers followed him and his mom out of the courtroom on May 21 after a judge dismissed his deportation case — and that he was handcuffed moments later.

“All I want is to go home so I can continue studying, to see the people who I love, and to be free,” Dylan said in a statement translated from Spanish by his attorneys.

New York Legal Assistance Group, whose attorneys are representing Dylan, released his statement on Thursday. Through a lawyer, Dylan’s family members have asked that his last name be withheld because they fear retaliation from the government.

“To people who are speaking out and taking action to support me: Thank you so much, I really didn’t expect all of the support and it fills me with hope,” Dylan said.

His detention comes as ICE has ramped up arrests at immigration courthouses throughout New York City and nationwide. Gothamist has observed ICE officials patrolling hallways at local immigration courthouses on several days in recent weeks.

On May 29, Dylan's attorneys filed a lawsuit against the government, calling for the student’s release from immigration detention. Mayor Eric Adams’ office filed a supporting brief in his case, arguing that courthouse arrests instill unnecessary fear among immigrants and could deter them from cooperating with court proceedings.

In his statement, Dylan said that two men in plain clothes followed him and his mother into an elevator after his hearing at 290 Broadway in Lower Manhattan. As they stepped out, the men asked him in Spanish to show their documents. Dylan said they were ICE officers but had their badges covered. He said the officers then began to speak to him in English and he couldn’t understand everything they said. He described being handcuffed and put in a car, while his mother was pushed away.

Dylan attended ELLIS Prep, a public international school in the Bronx serving immigrant students who are over 15 and have been in the country for less than a year. Hundreds of Dylan's classmates and their families wrote letters of support for him to read at the Pennsylvania detention center where he’s currently being held, according to local news outlet Chalkbeat.

But Dylan said detention guards only gave him three of the letters. Still, he said, the letters gave him hope.

“With your support I haven’t felt so alone,” Dylan said.