2 days ago
Protesters gather as Detroit high school student faces deportation
Protestors on Tuesday gathered outside of a Detroit Public Schools Community District meeting after a high school student was detained last month and now faces deportation.
As community members are still reacting to the arrest of 18-year-old Western International High School student Maykol Boyoga Duarte, protestors say the school district needs to do more.
"This board and this district needs to stand unequivocally of their students, of all of their students, of their immigrant students," said Kate Stenvig during the meeting at Martin Luther King Jr. High School.
"He is one of my friends, he's actually a great friend. He's a great student and he is always trying to help others," said Bogoya-Duarte's friend, Abigail Pareda.
On May 20, Bogoya-Duarte was on his way to Lake Erie Metropark with three classmates on a school field trip when Rockwood police pulled him over.
Police say the officer had trouble communicating with him in English and called the border patrol. During the investigation, the federal agent discovered Bogoya-Duarte was in the U.S. illegally, resulting in his arrest.
The 18-year-old was months away from graduating from high school. One of his teachers explained the 18-year-old's current situation.
"Losing his job, being cut off by his family and friends, spending 19 days in a prison in the Upper Peninsula, being told one night he's being deported the next morning at 3 a.m., and then being transported to a different prison in Battle Creek, where he has been for 2 days. He could get deported at any minute, and we just found out he's in a prison in Louisiana," said high school teacher Kristin Shuttle.
Another protest is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday outside the ICE and DPD police headquarters in Detroit. On Saturday at 1 p.m., there will be a march at Clark Park against President Trump and recent deportations.
DPSCD issued the following statement after Tuesday's meeting:
