Latest news with #BrooklynFrontiersHighSchool
CBS News
4 days ago
- Politics
- CBS News
NYC teachers rally for student's immediate release from ICE custody
Immigration advocates rallied on the steps of the New York City Department of Education headquarters demanding a student's immediate release from federal custody. Mamadou Mouctar Diallo's teachers joined city leaders at the rally Thursday morning. They said he should be in his classroom at Brooklyn Frontiers High School, instead of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center. Diallo, a 20-year-old asylum seeker from Guinea, was detained by ICE agents last week following a routine immigration court appearance at 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan, advocates said. ICE did not provide a statement on why Diallo was taken into custody, but confirmed he was being held at a correctional facility in Pennsylvania. "Take a good look at this young man who came here from his home in West Africa. He's alone," NYC Council Member Rita Joseph said while holding his picture at the rally. "Mamadou did the right thing. He showed up for his routine check in and he was abducted. "A student seeking a better life, pursuing his education, has been stripped." Diallo's teachers at Brooklyn Frontiers said he was focused on his studies, making friends and contributing to his community. The school's website says it is a transfer school "serving students who are over-age and under-credited." "He's a very bright, sweet, respectful young man that was going to a court date that was unjustly taken," one of Diallo's teachers said. "For me, to be standing here today to advocate for one of my students to be released from ICE, it's just horrible," Pedro Grand said. "He recently completed a culinary internship. He's completed a security guard training program and is excited to get to work. He's a member of the Audubon society," City Council Member Lincoln Restler said. "He's a model student." Diallo is at least the third NYC public schools student detained by ICE this year, according to city immigration advocates. A 20-year-old named Dylan was detained in May and also has not been released. A 19-year-old named Derlis was released in July after spending a month in custody. Mayor Eric Adams' office said the administration is reviewing potential legal actions it could take in Diallo's case. "We are aware that one of our students has been detained by ICE after attending a routine immigration hearing. We are gathering more information and reviewing next steps, including our legal options. This did not occur in a school, and we urge our families to continue to send students to school, where they are safe," a City Hall spokesperson said. City Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos previously issued the statement, "Our team is standing with the student's family, working closely to connect them with legal support and other critical services." New York is a sanctuary city and ICE agents are not permitted on public school grounds without a court order, subpoena or warrant signed by a judge. School starts in New York City on September 4.
CBS News
5 days ago
- Politics
- CBS News
Immigrant from Guinea is at least 3rd NYC public school student detained by ICE this year
City leaders are expected to rally Thursday in Lower Manhattan to demand the release of another New York City public school student who was detained by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The student, a 20-year-old immigrant from Guinea known as Mouctar, is now in ICE custody at a Pennsylvania correctional facility. Mouctar attends Brooklyn Frontiers High School, a transfer school "serving students who are over-age and under-credited," according to its website. City officials say he was detained by ICE following a routine immigration court appearance in Lower Manhattan. "This is sending a really horrible message to everyone who's trying to do things the right way," said Murad Awawdeh, president and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition. Mouctar is at least the third New York City public school student detained by ICE so far this year, including 19-year-old Derlis, who was released in July after a month in custody, and 20-year-old Dylan, who has been detained since May. Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos says her "team is standing with the student's family, working closely to connect them with legal support and other critical services." CBS News New York reached out to the Department of Homeland Security about Mouctar's case and is still awaiting a response. At a town hall in Queens on Tuesday, immigrant students shared their fears about the Trump administration's deportation policies. "I have started missing several days of school because I was so afraid," one student said. "I understand the value of school, but worrying about homework is difficult when you're afraid of losing your family." Because New York is a sanctuary city, ICE agents are not permitted on public school property without a court order, subpoena or warrant signed by a judge. With the first day of school right around the corner, the city's education department is trying to assure parents and students that their classrooms are safe. "New York City is ready to support our immigrant families as we enter a new school year," said Manuel Castro, commissioner for the New York City Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs. The Department of Education says it is training staff and nonprofit partners on protocol for following the city's sanctuary laws. "That everybody knows how to protect families, how to get the right information out, and that it's consistent across the board," said Jess Dannhauser, commissioner of the Administration for Children's Maldonado contributed to this report.
