A teenage boy was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents after showing up for a scheduled immigration appointment this week.
His mother self-deported but believed her son’s status would have kept him safe.
Teen sent to facility for minors
Joel Camas, 16, showed up to a scheduled immigration check-in at 26 Federal Plaza bright and early Thursday morning.
“We were gonna do this ICE check-in. It was gonna be quick, maybe he wouldn’t even be late for school that starts at 8,” said Beth Baltimore, director of legal services for The Door.
Instead, he was detained and sent to a facility where minors are being held.
He and his mother, Elvia Chafla, are undocumented. In September, Chafla flew back to their Ecuadorian hometown instead of facing arrest. She thought Joel would be fine because of his special immigrant juvenile status.
“It is a status available to young people who are under 21, unmarried, have been found to have been abused, abandoned or neglected by … a parent or parents,” Baltimore said.
The family’s lawyer says a family court judge found that it was in Joel’s best interests to remain in the U.S. He is a junior at Gotham Collaborative High School and lives with family in the Bronx.
“What is going to happen to my son?”
Joel’s mother says he had a very difficult life in Ecuador and she brought him to New York seeking asylum.
“What is going to happen to him? What is going to happen to my son? Right now, there’s a lot of violence here and I don’t want him to come back to that … Right now, I have no work,” she said in Spanish.
The Department of Homeland Security says in February 2024, during the Biden administration, the teen and his mother were given final orders to leave.
“His mother self-deported to Ecuador and Camas remained in the USA alone as a minor. Fortunately, now Mr. Camas will be reunited with family,” DHS said in a statement, in part.
The family’s lawyer says the rules for migrants are in constant flux with the current Trump administration, and if the teen is deported, his pathway to lawful permanent residence will be terminated.
“Every day is just, there’s another terrifying thing that’s happening,” Baltimore said. “Also just the changes in law every few minutes, every few seconds. Different cases coming out.”
The Civil Liberties Union and the organization representing Joel filed a Habeas petition on his behalf. They are seeking his release and a stop on the removal order so he can stay in school and continue on his path.