Dylan Contreras, the first known New York City public school student to face arrest under President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, spoke publicly on Thursday for the first time since his release from immigration custody, urging support for the tens of thousands of immigrants still in detention.
Contreras appeared alongside his mother, immigrant advocates and elected officials — including Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani — at Middle Church in the East Village, where he thanked New Yorkers who fought for his release, which came early Wednesday from a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Pennsylvania.
“I still have so many friends inside,” Contreras said in Spanish, flanked by his mother, immigrant advocates and elected officials, including Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani. “We have to continue fighting for them.”
Contreras, who was 20 when he was detained in May, was attending ELLIS Prep, a Bronx public high school intended for older immigrant students who have been in the country for less than a year. He had no criminal record.
His arrest drew nationwide attention and was widely seen as an early sign that the Trump administration’s deportation effort would reach beyond those whom federal officials described as the worst of the worst” criminals.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that Contreras was released with a GPS tracking device and still faces removal proceedings, adding he would receive full due process.
Hochul said she urged the administration to release Contreras and several other migrants during a recent meeting with Trump's "border czar" Tom Homan.
Previous Mayor Eric Adams’ administration also filed an amicus brief in Contreras’ legal case, advocating for his release.
Contreras was being held in ICE's Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Decatur Township, Clearfield County.
After his arrest, city officials encouraged immigrant students to keep coming to school and said federal immigration officials had not tried to enter school buildings.
Contreras came to the United States from Venezuela in 2024 and turned himself in at the border as part of an entry program permitted under the Biden administration. His arrest occurred during what was expected to be a routine immigration hearing in Manhattan.
On the ride back home from the Pennsylvania detention center, Contreras said “por fin” — Spanish for “finally” — according to immigration advocate Power Malu, who was along for the trip.
At Middle Church, volunteers and advocates held signs with the words “por fin” as Malu led the crowd surrounding Contreras in chanting the phrase.
This story was updated with additional comment.
