Bronx Student Released After 10 Months in ICE Custody

Dylan Lopez Contreras, a 21-year-old student at a Bronx public high school, was released from federal immigration detention on Wednesday after spending nearly 10 months in custody, marking the end of a prolonged separation from his family following his arrest at a routine immigration hearing.

Contreras, who enrolled at Ellis Preparatory Academy to complete his high school education, had arrived in the United States from Venezuela in April 2024 with his mother, Raiza Contreras, and siblings. He entered under a Biden administration program for migrants fleeing persecution and was granted Special Immigrant Juvenile Status while pursuing asylum. Federal authorities, however, classified his entry as illegal. On May 21, 2025, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained him in the lobby of a Manhattan courthouse immediately after his hearing, an action his attorneys described as a surprise arrest during what was intended as a standard proceeding. He was then transferred to the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, where he faced health challenges and limited access to education.

His mother expressed profound relief in a statement released through the...