Photo courtesy of the family of Dylan Josue Lopez Contreras via Northwest Bronx Indivisible
Lawyers for detained Marble Hill high school student Dylan Josue Lopez Contreras said Wednesday, March 18, that the student has been released from Moshannon Valley Processing Center, the Pennsylvania facility run by the U.S. Department of Immigration, Customs & Enforcement (ICE), where they said he had been “unjustly imprisoned for nearly 10 months.” The announcement of his release follows Dylan’s highly publicized courthouse arrest outside a scheduled immigration hearing at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan last May, as reported.
Reacting to the news, Raiza Contreras, Dylan’s mother, said, “All glory and honor belong to God, who opened doors and made the impossible possible. I am grateful to everyone who, in one way or another, played a part in offering support and strength, and were always there. Very soon, my son will be back with his siblings and me. It is both a relief and a blessing.”
As reported in May 2025, Dylan, 20, had been attending English Language Learners International Support Academy (ELLIS) in Marble Hill, before he was detained by ICE during a scheduled court appearance. He later became subject to a deportation order. Several rallies were held both locally and in Manhattan over the last year during which advocates and elected officials alike called for his release.
Photo courtesy of U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer
Kate Fetrow, associate supervising attorney at New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG)’s special litigation unit, and a member of Dylan’s legal team, said, “We are overjoyed that Dylan is finally able to return home, where he should have been for the last nearly 10 months he’s spent unjustly detained for simply following the rules. Nothing can undo the injustice of denying Dylan even a modicum of due process, stealing his liberty and personal autonomy, and snatching away the precious time, education and experiences he’s been forced to miss for nearly a year of his young life. His release today is a momentous step in the right direction as we continue to fight to restore justice for Dylan and his family.”
As reported, and as stated by U.S. Minority Leader and Sen. Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, Dylan entered the country legally and was following the law. Despite this, Schumer said he was still targeted and detained by ICE after attending the mandatory court hearing. At that hearing, Schumer said ICE officers followed Contreras out of the courtroom and arrested him in the lobby. As reported, Dylan was detained in an ICE detention facility, and his mother Raiza, and his attorneys have since been fighting to bring him home.
Schumer said Dylan was the first New York City public school student detained under the Trump administration’s mass-detention and deportation campaign implemented by the U.S. Department of Immigration, Customs & Enforcement (ICE), a campaign, which Schumer says, is terrorizing communities across America.
Photo courtesy of U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer
The U.S. senator recently invited Dylan’s mother as his guest to U.S. President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address. Watch the video of Dylan’s mother in Washington D.C. here.
Reacting to the news, the minority leader said, “Thank God Dylan Contreras is coming home. He will soon be back in New York reunited with his mother Raiza, his family, and the Bronx community that loves him. I sat with Raiza as she cried in my office the night of the State of the Union and told her I would do everything in my power to help bring her son home, and I am thrilled they are together once again.”
Photo courtesy of State Sen. Gustavo Rivera
Schumer went on to say, “Dylan did everything right, he entered legally, worked to support his family and enrolled in school, and he should have never been detained like this. I am glad the administration has heeded my calls and righted this wrong, but there are many more families like Dylan’s that have been torn apart because of ICE. The chaos experienced by so many communities and families at the hands of ICE must end.”
For her part, Melissa Chua, director of New York Legal Assistance Group’s immigrant protection unit, said, “Dylan’s legal team and all those who have supported him are deeply grateful to finally secure his release and bring Dylan back home to his family and community.”
She added, “We want to thank Sen. Schumer, Mayor Mamdani, and the many elected officials who have offered their unwavering advocacy and vocal support over the past year. As legal advocates, we know all too well just how many more people are still out there, remain unjustly detained, risk separation from loved ones, or spend each day living in fear and uncertainty under this current political climate. That is why we remain committed to fighting day after day on behalf of Dylan and so many others like him to restore justice by keeping families together and upholding the rights of all people, regardless of immigration status.”
Photo courtesy of Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz
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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.