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1h ago

Bronx Student Dylan Lopez Contreras Freed From ICE Detention After 10 Months

Freed on what advocates describe as parole with electronic monitoring, he still faces an unresolved asylum appeal.

Dylan Contreras, recently released from ICE detention, sits between Power Malu and Candice Braun, two immigration activists.
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Raiza, center, mother of Dylan Lopez Contreras, the first public high school student detained by federal agents, attends a press conference outside the Jacob K. Javits federal building, in New York City, on July 17, 2025.
Dylan Contreras, a Bronx high school student apprehended by federal immigration agents last year, at a "welcome home" celebration Thursday at Middle Church in Manhattan.

Overview

  • Contreras, 21, left ICE’s Moshannon Valley facility in Pennsylvania on March 18 and reunited with his family in the Bronx after roughly 10 months in custody.
  • ICE arrested him after a routine immigration hearing in Lower Manhattan on May 21, 2025, in a case that became the first known detention of a New York City public school student during the current courthouse-arrest strategy.
  • An immigration judge denied his asylum claim in September and a federal habeas petition was rejected; his lawyers say appeals remain active.
  • DHS says he entered the U.S. illegally and is subject to expedited removal, while his attorneys maintain he used a Biden-era process to enter lawfully and complied with requirements.
  • Advocates say he was released on parole with an ankle monitor, elected officials including Sen. Chuck Schumer and Mayor Zohran Mamdani had pressed for his release, and officials have not explained the basis for the decision.