{"id":74756,"date":"2025-07-19T07:02:22","date_gmt":"2025-07-19T07:02:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/74756\/"},"modified":"2025-07-19T07:02:22","modified_gmt":"2025-07-19T07:02:22","slug":"ecuadorian-queens-high-school-student-released-from-texas-ice-detention-reunites-with-family-in-nyc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/74756\/","title":{"rendered":"Ecuadorian Queens high school student released from Texas ICE detention reunites with family in NYC"},"content":{"rendered":"

An Ecuadorian Queens high school student<\/a> detained by federal immigration authorities in Texas headed straight for his mother\u2019s arms after stepping off his bus in an emotional reunion at Port Authority, days after he was released on bond.<\/p>\n

Grover Cleveland High School<\/a> junior Derlis Snaider Chusin Toaquiza, 19, was overcome with emotion as his mother embraced him, sobbing into his shoulder. His father, holding a cardboard sign that read \u201cWelcome Home Derlis\u201d wiped tears from his eyes at the sight, as his 6-year-old sister filmed the reunion on a cellphone.<\/p>\n

The tear-filled homecoming came nearly six weeks after federal agents arrested Derlis<\/a> as he stepped outside the courtroom at 26 Federal Plaza<\/a> in Manhattan following a routine asylum hearing on June 4.<\/p>\n

A Department of Homeland Security<\/a> attorney had moved to dismiss his asylum case, but an immigration judge denied the motion and set another court date, according to the filings. Agents arrested him anyway.<\/p>\n

After weeks in detention, a Texas immigration judge granted Derlis\u2019 release on Monday, according to his legal team, and a bail fund called the Envision Freedom Fund<\/a> posted the $20,000 bond Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n

The judge\u2019s decision came after Derlis challenged his detention in federal court and the city\u2019s Law Department filed a brief<\/a> in support of his release.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can never repay those who lent their hands to lift up a family that had fallen. You have restored hope where all was lost for us,\u201d Derlis\u2019 parents wrote in a statement Friday. \u201cYou have marked our lives forever. We carry you engraved in our hearts. We have been shown that there are more of those who are good in the world. We love you all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Queens<\/p>\n

Barry Williams \/ New York Daily News<\/p>\n

Queens high school student Derlis Snaider Chusin Toaquiza hugs a young relative at the Port Authority Bus Terminal after returning to New York on a bus after being released from ICE custody in Texas on Friday. (Barry Williams \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

Derlis\u2019 legal team with the New York Legal Assistance Group said it was no easy feat to get him released, with one attorney calling it \u201ca team effort.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this case we were able to establish that [Derlis was] neither a danger nor a flight risk,\u201d NYLAG attorney Lauren Reiff told reporters Friday. \u201cIt was resource intensive. We had four attorneys and one paralegal staffing this case. So it\u2019s not easy certainly. And the current government policies are not intended to make it easy for people to pursue their asylum cases in a way that is comfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Derlis was held for four days in a small holding room at 26 Federal Plaza with more than 60 other detainees, forcing him to sleep sitting upright, according to court documents. The 19-year-old said he was given only one or two meals a day, and had little to no privacy when using the bathroom, which was connected to the holding room and only blocked off by a waist-height wall.<\/p>\n

Derlis also complained to agents that his gastritis was flaring up, and told them he needed more food. They continued providing him just one or two meals a day, court documents said. On June 8 he was transferred to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement<\/a> facility in Livingston, Texas<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are so relieved that he\u2019s here, but it shouldn\u2019t take a team of attorneys to get somebody who has never committed a crime, who has only been an upstanding addition to his community, out of detention and back,\u201d NYLAG attorney Melissa Chua told reporters. \u201cHe was only going to immigration court to seek the protections that he is due under the law and should not have been detained in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Queens<\/p>\n

Barry Williams\/ New York Daily News<\/p>\n

Queens high school student Derlis Snaider Chusin Toaquiza is greeted by NYLAG attorney Rebecca Rubin after he walked off a bus at the Port Authority Bus Terminal on Friday. (Barry Williams\/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

Derlis and his family sought asylum in the United States last year to escape alleged discrimination in Ecuador for being part of an Indigenous group, the Panzaleo people. He has no criminal history.<\/p>\n

After arriving in New York, he enrolled at the Ridgewood high school, where he recently made the soccer team and was awarded \u201cMost Improved\u201d by his teachers, according to court documents. Still detained, and unable to attend the ceremony himself, Derlis\u2019 parents collected the award for him last month.<\/p>\n

Derlis\u2019 English teacher, Michelle Koenig, was among a group of supporters who welcomed him at the arrival gate Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s the kind of kid that always wants to help his classmates. He\u2019s the one who when you need something, he volunteers. When somebody has to take a chance in English class and do something that\u2019s tricky, he\u2019s going to be the one to do it,\u201d Koenig, 48, said of Derlis. \u201cHe\u2019s such a loving, kind and hardworking kid.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Queens<\/p>\n

Barry Williams\/ New York Daily News<\/p>\n

Queens high school student Derlis Snaider Chusin Toaquiza (center) walks from a bus at the Port Authority Bus Terminal after being released from ICE custody on Friday. (Barry Williams\/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

Koenig said news of his arrest cast a somber mood in school last month.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt truly was devastating. I could not even sleep that night thinking about him and where he was,\u201d Koenig said. \u201cHe\u2019s the kind of kid that\u2019s always smiling, and to think about him being taken like that, the whole community was devastated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Derlis also has a knack for music, and plays piano and guitar for the evangelical church that his family attends every Wednesday and Sunday. He dreams of joining his school\u2019s swim team after learning how to swim in the past year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen immigrant New Yorkers are afraid to access basic government resources, like sending their kids to school, dialing 911, going to the hospital, or attending court proceedings, it makes our entire city less safe,\u201d a City Hall spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are proud to have advocated for this young New Yorker, who was simply following the lawful process by attending a mandatory hearing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Derlis was the second known New York City public school student to be detained by ICE. The first, a 20-year-old Bronx transfer student named Dylan<\/a>, is still being held at a Pennsylvania facility.<\/p>\n

A senior DHS official, in a statement, said: \u201cDerlis Chusin Toaquiza, an illegal alien from Ecuador, was arrested by ICE on June 4, 2025. He entered the country illegally under the previous administration in March of 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cSecretary Noem is reversing Biden\u2019s catch-and-release policy that allowed millions of unvetted illegal aliens to be let loose on American streets. This Administration is once again implementing the rule of law. Most aliens who illegally entered the United States within the past two years are subject to expedited removals. Biden ignored this legal fact and chose to release millions of illegal aliens, including violent criminals, into the country with a notice to appear before an immigration judge. ICE is now following the law and placing these illegal aliens in expedited removal, as they always should have been.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they have a valid credible-fear claim, they will continue in immigration proceedings, but if no valid claim is found, aliens will be subject to a swift deportation.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Cayla Bamberger<\/strong><\/p>\n

Originally Published: July 18, 2025 at 3:33 PM EDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An Ecuadorian Queens high school student detained by federal immigration authorities in Texas headed straight for his mother\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":74757,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,1370,405,403,50,5226,5225,5228,5227,80,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-74756","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-latest-headlines","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-city","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-newyork","14":"tag-newyorkcity","15":"tag-ny","16":"tag-nyc","17":"tag-politics","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-united-states-of-america","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","22":"tag-us","23":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114878623323797933","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74756\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}