Photo courtesy of U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer
U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer invited Raiza Contreras, mother of ICE detained Marble Hill high school student, Dylan Josue Lopez Contreras, as his personal guest to U.S. President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night, Feb. 24, “as she continues fighting for her son’s release.”
Of Trump’s first year in office, Schumer said it had been a disaster. “It has meant higher costs, chaos and corruption.” he said, later adding, “To show how harmful Donald Trump’s decisions are on real people, I invited New Yorkers to come down to Washington D.C. as my guests for the State of the Union.”
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. As reported, he has since become subject to a deportation order.
Photo courtesy of U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer
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.
As reported, Dylan entered the country legally and was following the law. Despite this, Schumer said he was still targeted and detained by ICE after attending a mandatory court hearing. At that hearing, Schumer said ICE officers followed Contreras out of the courtroom and arrested him in the lobby. As reported, he is currently being detained in an ICE detention facility, and his mother Raiza, and his attorneys are fighting to bring him home.
“No mother should have to go through what Raiza is experiencing right now, being unjustly separated from her son,” Schumer said ahead of the State of the Union. “Dylan followed the rules. He entered through a legal process, obtained permission to work to support his family, enrolled in school, and showed up to court as required.”
Photo courtesy of U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer
He continued, “Instead, ICE ripped their family apart. When someone complies with the law and appears before a judge, they should not leave in handcuffs. I am proud to bring Raiza as my personal guest to the State of the Union to show how ICE is hurting families and terrorizing communities across America. Dylan deserves to be home with his mom and in the community that loves him. We must rein in ICE. The lawlessness, the violence, the chaos must end.”
For her part, Raiza Contreras said, “My son Dylan came to this country through a legal program because he believed in doing things the right way. My son went to school, worked to help our family, and showed up to his court date because he trusted the system. But instead of justice, ICE followed him out of the courtroom and took him away. He has been detained for 8.5 months and is being held in Pennsylvania, far from everyone who loves him. All he wants is the chance to study and build a future. I am simply asking for fairness and for my son to be brought home.”
According to his lawyers, Dylan entered the United States in April 2024 through a program that allowed migrants to present themselves lawfully and seek asylum. They said he was permitted to remain in the country while awaiting his hearing, had obtained work authorization and a learner’s permit, and enrolled in high school.
Photo courtesy of the family of Dylan Josue Lopez Contreras via Northwest Bronx Indivisible
They said he worked part-time as a delivery driver to help his family move from a city shelter into an apartment, and also helped his mother care for his two younger siblings. They said Dylan was granted Special Immigrant Juvenile Status.
Meanwhile, Schumer said he has been leading efforts in Congress to rein in ICE and impose reforms. He said he and his colleagues have called for clear guardrails, including prohibiting enforcement at sensitive locations like schools and courts, requiring officers to display identification, banning the use of masks during enforcement, preventing racial profiling, mandating body-worn cameras, ensuring access to counsel in detention facilities, and strengthening oversight and coordination with state and local authorities.
Schumer said federal immigration agents cannot continue to cause chaos in communities without accountability and added that Congress must act to protect constitutional rights while ensuring common-sense enforcement.
Photo courtesy of State Sen. Gustavo Rivera
Meanwhile, New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG) represents Dylan in his immigration case and in a petition for habeas corpus challenging his unlawful detention. Kate Fetrow, associate supervising attorney in NYLAG’s Immigration Protection Unit, released a statement on Tuesday, saying, “NYLAG is working tirelessly to get Dylan home to his mom, his siblings, and his school, but unfortunately, the federal government is fighting tooth and nail to prevent him from even having a modicum of due process.
She continued, “Dylan is a beloved and valued member of his high school, and like so many immigrant students, he strives to do well in school, make friends, and live a full and free life in his new home here in America. Despite Dylan following every immigration rule, ICE ripped him from his family and DHS has illegally imprisoned him for nearly nine months without due process. His arrest and continued detention are emblematic of the injustice and cruelty of arresting people appearing in immigration court.”
Fetrow added, “Dylan’s constitutional rights and the rights of thousands of immigrants have been trampled by a federal agency hellbent on tearing apart families and communities. By having Dylan’s mother accompany him to the State of the Union, our Senator reaffirms that Dylan and everyone, regardless of immigration status, deserve justice in this country.”
Photo by Síle Moloney
Asked, during an interview in Washington D.C. on Tuesday night, what she would say to the president regarding her son’s situation, Contreras replied, “I am that silenced voice of my son. I would tell him that there are things we sometimes believe we are doing right, but that are not turning out that way, because what may appear to be an achievement, can also be destruction, that he truly put himself in our place, even if only for a moment, that he truly try to have some feelings and realize that we are suffering.”
Tearful at times, she added, “What crime could many of these people have who are only working and striving to help their family, that he truly be a little more empathetic. This is what I would ask of him.” Watch the video here.
Photo courtesy of Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz
Speakers outlined urgent demands to cut funding, rescind previously allocated enforcement dollars, and enact policy changes that they say will meaningfully stop violence and abuse in immigrant communities.
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.