Five leading child advocacy organizations recently filed an amicus brief in federal court in support of 16-year-old Bronx teen, Joel, from Ecuador who was detained by the United States Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). His case was heard at a White Plains federal court on Monday, Nov. 17. Norwood News reached out to the advocates for an update on the latest court proceedings, as well as asking which part of The Bronx Joel lives in.

While we’re still waiting on confirmation of the latter, we’ve been informed that a judge has since ordered Joel released into the custody of a legal guardian and he has been reunited with his extended family while his legal case continues.

Established as a part of the Refugee Act of 1980, ORR initially supported refugees, asylees, unaccompanied refugee minors, and Cuban and Haitian entrants. However, over time, as designated by Congress, ORR’s mission grew to serve many different populations from around the world.

In 2003, Congress expanded ORR’s role to serve unaccompanied alien children. Through the Unaccompanied Alien Children Bureau, ORR provides for the care and custody of unaccompanied alien children who enter the United States from other countries without an adult guardian. ORR is legally required to provide for their care until they are placed with a vetted sponsor, usually a parent or relative, while their immigration cases proceed.

ORR also offers longer-term resettlement benefits and services to support arrivals’ successful transition to life in the U.S.

An amicus brief is a legal document submitted by a third party who is not involved in a lawsuit but has a strong interest in the case’s outcome. These “friend of the court” briefs typically provide additional legal arguments, and technical information or perspectives to help the court make a decision on a matter before it.

On October 23, according to advocates for the student, immigration officers detained the 16-year-old during a scheduled immigration check-in at 26 Federal Plaza, which he attended with his lawyer. They said he had been living in the Bronx with extended family following his mother’s decision to self-deport earlier this year.

The New York public high school student, an 11th grade English language learner, had previously been granted “Special Immigrant Juvenile” status by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in April, which provides a path to permanent residency.

EJCC v. Joyce, submitted by Children’s Defense Fund, the Kairos Center for Religion, Rights, and Social Justice, EdTrust–New York, the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights, and Children’s Rights, urges the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to grant the teen’s request for release from an ORR congregate care facility in The Bronx without restrictions on his liberty.

Attorneys Katherine Rosenfeld and Nick Bourland of Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP filed the brief on behalf of the five organizations (“the amici”).

“The amici” are united by a shared goal which is to promote the welfare and safety of children and youth affected by immigration detention. Their work focuses on protecting minors from the serious harms of detention and safeguarding their educational rights. They include Children’s Defense Fund, the Kairos Center for Religion, Rights, and Social Justice, EdTrust–New York, the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights, and Children’s Rights.

The amicus brief and the teen’s attorneys, The Door’s Legal Services Center and the New York Civil Liberties Union, argue that the student’s unnecessary detention threatens to harm his mental health and education.

They said the teen is currently enrolled in classes at ReStart Academy, an alternative education program that partners with ORR. According to the academy’s website, it serves “the most vulnerable students” that “have become disengaged from school.” However, before his detention, they said the teen was performing at grade level, actively participating in school, and on track to graduate on time.

The organizations that filed the brief argue that, given his strong academic record, placing him in an alternative education program is inappropriate for his learning needs. “When children and young people are detained, including in ORR congregate facilities, and separated from their communities and schools, empirical research shows that such detention is deeply traumatizing and has long-term negative impacts on brain development and on that child’s trajectory through life,” the brief reads.

The five organizations share a common goal of promoting the welfare and safety of children affected by immigration detention say they bring decades of experience advocating for youth in these settings, and added that the purpose of the brief is to provide the court with accurate information about the harms suffered by detained children, including those held in ORR facilities.

They said that in a March letter to the Trump administration, the American Academy of Pediatrics and other national medical organizations concluded that “even short periods of detention can cause psychological trauma and long-term mental health risks” for children.

Children’s Defense Fund-New York Director Khin Mai Aung said, “Immigration detention is no place for children and youth. EJCC’s detention is especially harmful, as he is missing out on a critical part of junior year despite performing at grade level, and should be at home attending his community high school.”

Meanwhile, Children’s Rights Deputy Litigation Director Leecia Welch, said, “Children torn from their parents and communities and confined in isolating, dehumanizing facilities endure unspeakable trauma. The confinement of EJCC, who has a loving home waiting for him, is particularly cruel and must come to an end. Every minute children spend in these institutions is a minute too long, stealing vital time from their lives and futures.”

As Northwest Bronx Indivisible and some independent supporters recently participated in the “No Kings” Day rally in Midtown Manhattan on Oct. 18, in part protest at the handling of immigration policy by the Trump administration.

Daniel Guenzburger, one of the members spoke to Norwood News about the group’s opposition to deporting immigrants without due process and their active support for another young Bronx detained local student and immigrant, Dylan, a Marble Hill high school student at ELLIS Preparatory Academy who was taken into custody by law enforcement in May and held, as reported, despite public outcry.

Another female member of the group had also talked about the importance of solidarity with Dylan, saying, “Dylan, himself, continues to sit in that GO center in Moshannon in Pennsylvania. He’s in detention, dispirited, and I know that we are giving him heart with the kind of thing we’re doing for him today.” For more on Dylan’s situation, click here, here and here. To contribute to a GoFundMe page set up to support Dylan, click here.

Northwest Bronx Indivisible also suggest writing to local, State and national elected officials to ask them to support Dylan, or write a postcard to him at Dylan Josue Lopez-Contreras, A244514475, Moshannan Valley ICE Processing Center; 555 Geo Drive; Philipsburg, PA 16866D. “It is the letters from classmates, neighbors, and hundreds of supporters that have sustained him and his family (learn why),” the group said, adding that a postcard is more likely to reach him as past letters have been confiscated as “contraband.”

They said postcards also make a clear statement to his imprisoners. “Our humanity must embrace Dylan personally and defy the ICE narrative that detainees are not human,” they wrote, providing the following suggested text: “Dylan, We are doing all we can to support you and care for your family. You are in my heart and loved by a huge community of supporters. We won’t give up!”

Some protestors at the No Kings Day rally in Manhattan alleged the Trump administration quota for immigrants was getting smaller, compounding the difficulty for those applying for a visa.

See attached graph further below of immigration numbers under different administrations since 1850. It had been widely reported at one point that more deportations took place under the Obama administration than under the first Trump administration though this may change by the end of the second Trump administration. Click here for some further analysis of the topic.

As reported, the president, by way of another executive order, recently cracked down on future H1B visa applications, visas typically obtained by “alien nonimmigrant workers” sponsored by an employer in a niche industry sector like, for example, healthcare.

Also, as reported, Sebastian Flores, a member of local running group, Bronx Nomads, based in Norwood, has also been detained by ICE. More to follow.

Those wishing to donate can access the gofundme page for Sebastien can click here.

Separately, on Nov. 18, The Legal Aid Society, The Immigrant Defense Project, Sanctuary for Families, LatinoJustice PRLDEF, Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, Make the Road New York, The Bronx Defenders, and Brooklyn Defender Services applauded the dismissal of the Trump Administration’s lawsuit, which had sought to challenge New York’s Protect Our Courts Act (POCA) and two executive orders that safeguard immigrant communities across the state.

In August, public defenders and immigrant rights organizations filed an amicus brief outlining the constitutional, legal, and public-safety imperatives behind New York State’s efforts to protect immigrants from civil immigration arrests at state courthouses and in other state buildings, and to limit information-sharing between state employees and federal immigration authorities.

The amici argued that these state laws and policies fall squarely within New York’s authority to govern its own institutions, protect public health and safety, and ensure access to justice for all New Yorkers.

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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.