20-year-old Venezuelan migrant in ICE custody "detained without cause," NYC Law Department says
New York City's Law Department is taking a stand to support a 20-year-old Venezuelan migrant and former Queens high school student who was arrested and detained by U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement agents last month.
José Luis Rojas Figuera was leaving an immigration hearing at a Lower Manhattan courthouse when it happened, and he's now in an upstate detention center.
His situation bears a strong resemblance to the case of a 20-year-old Bronx student named "Dylan," who was detained at immigration court on May 21, an arrest that sparked chaotic protests in the city.
"He was surrounded by masked ICE agents"
Paige Austin, an attorney with the group Make the Road New York, is working to get her client released from what she claims was a trap.
Figuera went to 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan for a scheduled appointment on June 2. He was detained as he left the immigration courtroom, Austin said.
"He was surrounded by masked ICE agents, who quickly detained him, and they put him into detention," Austin said.
City attorneys have joined his fight, arguing that he is being "detained without cause and in violation of his right to due process."
Mayor Eric Adams said the city supports him and has filed a brief backing his petition for release.
"We will continue to fight to ensure that people going through the legal process are protected under the law," Adams said in a statement.
Who is José Luis Rojas Figuera?
Figuera, who for about a year was enrolled at Pan-American High School in Elmhurst, has no criminal history and is pursuing a pathway to a green card, his attorney says.
"José is a warm, friendly, very family-oriented young person," Austin said. "He did have to leave school several months ago in order to support his family. He has never gotten into any trouble in his life. He doesn't have any criminal history. There's simply no reason that immigration would decide that he's someone who needs to be in a jail."
Some community leaders said they are seeing a culture of fear spread across New York City.
Dr. Iesha Sekouis CEO and founder of Street Corner Resources.
"My organization has worked with the Immigrant community," Sekou said. "We see the fear. We feel the vibration of the fear. We need to be treating them with human dignity."
CBS News New York reached out to ICE, the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Attorney's Office, but did not hear back.
