Dutchess County community raises thousands to help local man in ICE custody

CBS News

24-07-2025

A Dutchess County community is rallying around a young man who is now in the custody of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
They raised tens of thousands of dollars for his legal battle and showed up to his court hearing in Lower Manhattan, hoping to keep him from being deported.
Friends have been worried about Gerson Josue Santamaria Turcios since he was taken into ICE custody Friday. They say the 23-year-old Honduran immigrant, who recently started his own lawn care business, was returning home from work in Rhinebeck when detained.
"Unfortunately, we heard the news, crushed our hearts," friend Jonathan Cruz-Cruz said. "It hurts seeing one of our friends just being taken away. I can't imagine what he's going through."
"For someone who's worked countless days, hours, trying to live this dream, and it just gets shattered by this unstable system that we have, it's just horrible," friend Brendan Dougherty said.
Dougherty met Turcios at Rhinebeck High School, and they became fast friends.
"Gerson is a loving, kind, hardworking person," Dougherty said.
"Just a huge community member," former classmate Jillien Truant said.
Sources say he has been in the country, undocumented, for about six years.
The community is rallying around Turcios, raising more than $60,000 for his legal defense. The grassroots effort New York Neighbors United was started by Jenny Friedberg, who employs Turcios.
"I know Gerson personally since he was 17-18 years old, and he is the most beautiful, gentle, sweetest guy," she said.
According to an ICE database, Turcios is currently being held at Orange County Correctional Facility.
On Monday, a judge issued an order preventing the government from deporting Turcios or removing him from the Southern District of New York, pending a hearing. That hearing resulted in a one-week extension of that temporary order, which Turcios' friends and supporters see as a win.
"Now we have time, and he can't be removed to Louisiana or Honduras," one speaker said.
They say it also gives his legal team more time to work on the case.
"I am part of a passionate team of people who are rallying behind Gerson to release him from his unjust detention and prevent his deportation. We are working around the clock to ensure that he receives due process and can be returned to a community where he is loved," attorney Paul B. Grotas said in a statement.
"We want him home in Rhinebeck, that's it," Friedberg said.
The community says they'll keep fighting to hopefully bring him back home.
CBS News New York reached out to the Department of Homeland Security about Turcios' case Wednesday, but has not heard back.