After spending nearly 10 months in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention, Dylan Lopez Contreras was released on March 18.
Contreras, a Venezuelan citizen, was a freshman student at Ellis Prep Academy in the Bronx. He was detained at a routine immigration court check-in in May 2025 and held at the Moshannon Valley ICE processing center in Philipsburg, Pa. Contreras was the first known public high school student in New York City to be detained by ICE.
Contreras expressed gratitude to those who supported him during his detention.
“I want to thank all New York City, every single person that has stepped up, held my hand throughout all this, I want to thank all the advocates, I want to thank every single person that’s connected to someone who kept my name alive,” Contreras said through a translator at a press conference. “I want to thank everyone who doesn’t forget about the people that are still in there.”
His attorneys said after months of legal filings and appeals, the New York Legal Assistance Group got a call out of the blue from ICE.
“All glory and honor belong to God, who opened doors and made the impossible possible,” Contreras’ mother, Raiza Contreras, said in a statement. “I am grateful to everyone who, in one way or another, played a part in offering support and strength, and were always there.”
In an essay he wrote for The Guardian from the detention center, Contreras said that life in detention was “uncomfortable, stressful and monotonous.”
“I would not know what to say is the hardest thing [about detention], but if I had to lean toward something, it would be the confiscation of my cellphone, which has left me cut off from my relationships,” he said.
Many public officials expressed their support for Contreras
“He was taken from the city, he was put in detention for nearly a year, and he was robbed of what should have been his, because above all else, Dylan is a New Yorker,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said.
“He belongs in New York City. This city has been missing him and we are so grateful. We are so grateful that you are home.”
“I am glad the administration has heeded my calls and righted this wrong, but there are many more families like Dylan’s that have been torn apart because of ICE,” Sen. Chuck Schumer said.
“The chaos experienced by so many communities and families at the hands of ICE must end.”
Despite his release, his legal situation remains unresolved. According to the Department of Homeland Security, Contreras was released with a GPS tracking device.
“If a judge finds he has no right to remain in the US, he will be swiftly removed,” a spokesperson for the agency said.
Contreras’ case resonates among immigrant communities along with many students and families.
“I worry that my other friends could be arrested, too,” Roger, one of Contreras’ close friends, said. “It’s a constant fear I have and I’m always worried when they go out and I’m not there because I don’t want anything bad to happen to them.”
