ICE arrests high school student

Politico 

By Eliza Shapiro, Keshia Clukey and Conor Skelding

June 12, 2017

ICE arrests high school student 

WESTCHESTER STUDENT ARRESTED BY ICE OFFICERS — NBC’s Ray Villeda: “A Westchester high school student was detained by federal immigration police on the day of his senior prom, and a day after his mother was taken into custody for deportation, according to officials and family. Diego Ismael Puma Macancela, a 19-year-old Ecuadorean national, is a senior at Ossining High School. He arrived in the U.S. with his mother in 2014. They fled their native country because of gang violence. Puma Macancela was just weeks away from graduation when his mother was detained Wednesday. Fearful after her detainment, Puma Macancela went to his cousin’s apartment that night.

“But U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents came knocking at the door Thursday. His cousin, Gabriela Macancela, said they hid in fear as ICE agents surrounded the home because he was ‘really scared.’ Puma Macancela eventually walked out and was detained. Macancela said she heard the agents say, ‘He’s coming out, he’s coming out,’ as he left the apartment. ‘They grabbed him like he’s a criminal,’ Macancela said. ‘He didn’t do anything wrong, he was just doing the best he could for his future.’ ICE told News 4 New York that the arrest was the result of an immigration judge’s final order back in November 2016. Relatives said they didn’t know about the order for Puma Macancela to leave the U.S. and thought there would be a chance to appeal as the teen finished his schooling.” Read more here.

— “Congresswoman Nita Lowey officially asked for a stay of removal on behalf of Puma in a letter to the acting director of ICE and said this will ‘have a chilling effect’ on immigrant community-law enforcement relationships. ‘A productive and contributing member of our community, his only crime was being brought to the United States as a minor by a parent,’ Lowey said in the letter. ‘ICE should focus its enforcement action on felonious adults, not children and students.’” — Journal News’ Michael P. McKinney and Jorge Fitz-Gibbon. Read more here.

For more information, go to:  www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com