A week after a high school student from the Bronx was taken by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, almost two dozen people were arrested outside of immigration court in Lower Manhattan on Wednesday night.
Police and protesters fought over barriers, which caused chaos at the protests. Some of the protesters who were arrested were charged with blocking the government from doing its job.
“People say, ‘Oh, let them come in legally,’ and when they try to come in legally and follow court proceedings they’re being kidnapped,” Mariposa said.
A few hours before the protests, witnesses said that several people were arrested at the ICE field office in SoHo.
“This is something I’ve never seen before.” I’ve worked here for a few years now, and I’ve never seen so many agents, let alone agents in plain clothes and masks pulling people out of line. “That’s not like that at all,” a guy named Ben said.
Still a lot of tension after the arrest of a Bronx high school student
Supporters say that under Trump’s government, it is happening more and more often for ICE to arrest and detain immigrants at their immigration court hearings.
A 20-year-old high school student from the Bronx had this happen to them last week.
“There’s a catch-22. “If you don’t show up to court, you could also be told to leave the country and be deported,” said Murad Awawdeh, president and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition.
The student from Venezuela, whose name was Dylan, was taken by ICE at the Lower Manhattan federal immigration court, where he was there to have his request for asylum heard.
“They got into trouble with the wrong people” when they got into trouble with New York City kids, said Naveed Hasan of the New York City Panel for Educational Policy.
A parent named Hasan said that he’s been getting calls from scared immigrant parents.
He is constantly being sought after by the school to be brought back. There is an advice counselor at our school who is helping us. As we work together, mom is very active, Hasan said.
“Our schools remain safe”
A representative for New York City Public Schools said that the city does not ask families to report or keep track of their children’s immigration status, and that staff did not give any information about Dylan to federal officials.
“Our schools are still safe, and we want parents to keep sending their kids to school,” said Melissa Aviles-Ramos, the leader of the schools.
City policy says that ICE must show a signed court warrant before entering school grounds. However, City Hall says that this has never happened under this government.
When asked how many people were being held by ICE and why, the government did not answer.
