Photo courtesy of New York Legal Assistance Group
The New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG) announced on Tuesday, Sept. 23, that an immigration judge has issued a decision to deny the asylum claim of “Dylan,” 20, a detained 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 and a large rally held in lower Manhattan following his arrest.
NYLAG said Dylan has one month to appeal and remains detained at Moshannon Valley Processing Center, a Pennsylvania ICE facility, where he has been held for four months following his courthouse arrest outside a scheduled immigration hearing at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan in late May.
Lauren Kostes, supervising attorney for NYLAG’s immigrant protection unit issued a statement on Sept. 23 in response to the news. “The court’s decision to, again, further deprive Dylan of his basic rights to a fair hearing, due process and justice is outrageous and beyond heartbreaking, not only to Dylan and his family, but to his schoolmates, friends, teachers, neighbors and the many hundreds of community members, advocates and New Yorkers who have rallied around him to demand his immediate return home,” she said.
“This decision is especially egregious in light of the fact that from the very beginning, Dylan has done everything right,” Kostes added. “He entered the country with permission, filed his asylum claim in a timely manner and attended all of his immigration court hearings. Dylan was punished for doing the right thing. After following his immigration obligations, he was kidnapped by masked agents, ripped away from his family, imprisoned in inhumane conditions for months, and forced to litigate his hearing from ICE detention.”
She said that while NYLAG was grateful the judge correctly found Dylan to be credible, it was disappointed that despite what she said was his compelling testimony and voluminous evidence detailing his fear, his case was denied.
“Unfortunately, this decision extends far beyond Dylan’s individual case,” Kostes continued, “It reflects the broader moment we find ourselves in and the deeply flawed and unjust system we’re forced to navigate. For those who need justice most, it often remains out of reach due to cruel policies and systemic injustices that cause real harm.”
She said NYLAG remained committed to fighting “day after day” on behalf of Dylan and others like him “to restore justice by keeping families together and allowing asylum seekers to assert their legal right to be here.”
“Dylan’s team of legal advocates are already preparing to appeal this decision, intend to push for his release on bond and will continue to fight tirelessly to exhaust all potential legal avenues to bring him home as soon as possible,” Kostes concluded.
Photo by Síle Moloney
In early September, as reported, the New York Legal Assistance Group shared a statement from Dylan, confirming he was being held in Pennsylvania. “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 at the time. “To people who are speaking out and taking action to support me: Thank you so much. I really didn’t expect all the support and it fills me with hope.”
City Council Member Eric Dinowitz (C.D. 11), who had attended and spoken at the rally held in May in Manhattan in support of Dylan, also released a statement on Sept. 25, saying in part that it had been more than four months since Dylan was “ambushed’ and detained by ICE during his regularly scheduled immigration court appointment. In reference to the deportation order, the councilman said, “This is nothing short of cruel and unjust.”
He continued, “Dylan was doing exactly what we ask of all our young people. He was balancing work and his education at ELLIS Prep in pursuit of his dreams. Despite his honorable endeavors, despite pursuing the American Dream, despite going through the legal immigration pathway, President Donald Trump has decided to ruthlessly rip him away from his family, his community, his school and his future.”
The councilman said no parent should have to endure the fear of not knowing when their child will be released or not knowing if their child will no longer be with them.
Photo by Síle Moloney
“I am furious and heartbroken,” Dinowitz said. “But I will not stop fighting for Dylan, for his family, and for every immigrant targeted by ICE’s predatory tactics.’
As reported, State Sen. Gustavo Rivera (S.D. 33) was among several other elected officials who were arrested last Thursday evening, Sept. 18, inside or near 26 Federal Plaza courthouse in Manhattan, as an ICE [U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement] protest took place nearby.
The senator was back at 26 Federal Plaza on Thursday, Sept. 25, along with City Comptroller Brad Lander, also arrested last week, as they once again oversaw immigration court proceedings. “Thank you @brad.lander for standing with our migrant community and for bringing me along to observe immigration court proceedings,” Rivera wrote.
Photo courtesy of State Sen. Gustavo Rivera
He continued, “New Yorkers’ rights are under attack and so many families are terrified to appear at their hearings fearing that they will be abducted and disappeared. Thankfully, many New Yorkers are volunteering to support and keep their eyes on the court. Aquí estamos y no nos vamos. [Here we are and we will not leave.]”
Another anti-ICE rally was held in Manhattan the same day. “Please join us tonight, rain or shine, for a mass mobilization to make clear: We want ICE out of New York City,” Lander had written earlier on Thursday. “We won’t stop showing up until they stop abducting our neighbors.”
Later, in a video posted to social media by @elaadeliahu, an ICE agent is seen violently throwing a bereft woman, whose partner was detained at 26 Federal Plaza by law enforcement, to the ground in front of her kids. “She had not touched him,” Lander later wrote of the incident. “She did not pose any threat. She had to be taken to the hospital.”
The comptroller added, “Seconds earlier, her husband had been abducted by masked ICE agents who did not identify themselves, did not present a warrant, did not give any lawful grounds for his detention.”
Image courtesy of City Comptroller Brad Lander
While condemning political violence and the shooting at an ICE facility that had taken place in Texas on Tuesday, Lander said that nonetheless masked ICE agents in Manhattan were acting violently against New Yorkers “illegally abducting them, holding them in cruel and inhumane conditions,” and “treating them as less-than-human, and not deserving due process.”
Rivera later said of the video, “This footage is preposterous. The cruelty is the point. ICE has a blatant disregard for the law and responds with more violence when faced with the desperation and horror they are inflicting.”
Together, Lander and Rivera concluded, “We will not stop bearing witness, stop condemning them, or stop doing all we can to stand up to this lawless behavior.”
Norwood News reached out to ICE for comment on the incident and received the following response from an ICE spokesperson: “The officer’s conduct in this video is unacceptable and beneath the men and women of ICE. Our ICE law enforcement are held to the highest professional standards and this officer is being relieved of current duties as we conduct a full investigation.”
Lander later said on Sept. 26, “I’m grateful that action is being taken to address yesterday’s violence at 26 Federal Plaza. When we insistently bear witness, there are limits to the cruelty people will support. Even Trump’s ICE can’t escape that indefinitely.”
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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.