Dylan Lopez-Contreras, Bronx student detained by ICE, speaks for first time since release

Cayla Bamberger, New York Daily News on Mar 19, 2026

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NEW YORK — Dylan Lopez Contreras, the first known New York City student targeted by federal immigration authorities after President Trump returned to office, spoke Thursday for the first time since his release — calling for others still in detention to be freed.

Lopez Contreras, 21, a Bronx high school student from Venezuela, was taken into custody at a routine immigration check-in last spring and transferred to a Pennsylvania facility, where he was held for nearly a year until his release on Wednesday.

During a news conference, he was welcomed back to New York by family, immigration advocates and elected officials, including Gov. Hochul, Mayor Mamdani and City Council Speaker Julie Menin.

“I wanted to thank everybody who has had a hand, put an effort in helping me get out of the very ugly situation I was in,” Lopez Contreras said in Spanish through a translator at Middle Collegiate Church in the East Village.

“As much as I’m happy that I’m free and I’m out here, I’m still sad that there are people still in there unjustly that deserve to be free,” he added. “I wish that I had the opportunity to bring them all with me as I left.”

While able to return to his daily routine, Lopez Contreras remains in removal proceedings and was released with a GPS tracking device, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

“He will receive full due process,” DHS said in a statement. “If a judge finds he has no right to remain in the U.S., he will be swiftly removed.”

Lopez Contreras came to the United States in April 2024 through an entry program under former President Joe Biden that was rolled back when Trump took office.

He enrolled in ELLIS Preparatory Academy, a special public school in the Bronx for older students who recently immigrated to the country, where he was learning English while supporting his mom and younger siblings.

But his adjustment period to life in New York came to an abrupt halt last May when, at a scheduled immigration hearing, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers followed Lopez Contreras out of the courtroom and arrested him in the lobby. He remained in the Pennsylvania detention center for 10 months.

“When he was in the car with us, that is the one thing that he continues to say, is that he was thinking about all the rest of the people that were in there,” said Power Malu, an immigration advocate who picked Lopez Contreras up from the Pennsylvania facility. “Unfortunately, he says that he wants to be happy, but he’s still sad because they are in there.”

“All he’s been talking about are the people who are still there, some kind of survivor’s remorse,” said Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.

After his arrest, advocates and Democratic elected officials came to the defense of Lopez Contreras, insisting he was following the asylum process for immigrants afraid of returning to their native countries but apprehended nonetheless.

While other local students were later arrested by ICE and either released or deported, Lopez Contreras continued to languish in custody as he faced setbacks in immigration and federal court, where he challenged his detention as illegal.

The circumstances that led to Lopez Contreras’s release were not immediately clear, though a number of advocates and politicians had been publicizing his case.

The governor and mayor vowed to continue pushing for the release of all New York students in federal custody.

“I’m sick and tired of families that are being terrorized,” said Hochul, who had urged Trump’s border czar Tom Homan to release Lopez Contreras, among other New York students. “I’m feeling very optimistic about others on that list, as we’re in constant communication with Tom Homan and his office. But, my God, we’re better than this.”

“We will not rest until our students can focus on school,” Mamdani said. “Until our parents can focus on their lives. Until we do not have to fight for the most basic of things, like freedom, like dignity, like our rights.”