After nearly a month in federal custody, a Bronx high school junior detained during a routine immigration check will be released, his lawyers announced Monday.
Joel Camas, 16, a junior at Gotham Collaborative High School, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on October 23, despite having approved Special Immigrant Juvenile Status and a pending permanent residency application, according to court documents.
His attorneys, from the New York Civil Liberties Union and The Door Legal Services Center, said he complied with all government requirements by appearing with his attorney for the mandatory appointment at 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan.
Instead, agents directed him to New York’s Varick Immigration Court, detained him without warning and transferred him the same day to an Office of Refugee Resettlement facility in the Bronx, his lawyers explained. A federal judge later stayed his deportation order as part of a habeas corpus petition, but he remained in custody.
Joel arrived in New York from Ecuador in late 2022 with his mother and has been living with relatives since. He began proceedings in the Family Court in May 2024 after his father abandoned him. In December of that same year, a Bronx Family Court judge ruled that it was not in his best interest to return to Ecuador and that he should remain in the United States to receive the protections available as a vulnerable young man, according to his lawyers.
His arrest came about a month after his mother, Elvia Chafla, reported to ICE while under supervision. She had been enrolled in the Intensive Monitoring Program and was wearing an ankle monitor since July 2025, meeting all reporting requirements.
At his appointment on September 22, ICE officials informed him that Joel would have to report the following month. Believing that her voluntary departure would help regularize her son’s immigration status, she returned to Ecuador on September 27.
Last week, the City Council filed an amicus brief in support of Joel’s release, arguing that the detention of a public school student jeopardizes his education and destabilizes local schools. The city noted his excellent academic record, his participation in school programs and The Door’s youth services network, and said immigrant students should be able to attend school without fear of disruption.
On Monday, November 17, U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel ordered Joel’s immediate release from the ORR detention center and his release to a family member.
Joel’s lawyers called ICE’s actions illegal and claimed that the agency arrested a minor who already had legal protection, and then quickly attempted to deport him.
“While it is a great relief that Joel can finally return home, ICE should never have detained him,” stated Elizabeth Gyori, senior staff attorney at the NYCLU. “By arresting a minor with legal status in a routine check, ICE acted with brazen cruelty, violated American law, and violated the Constitution.”
Joel is expected to return to his family, friends, and school community in the Bronx in the coming days.
Beth Baltimore, deputy director of The Door Legal Services Center, said the court recognized the seriousness of the government’s actions.
“I am extremely happy that, after weeks of unnecessary detention, Joel can return to his family and community,” he declared. “The court recognized that what the government did to Joel was extraordinary.”
Attorneys say the teen’s case is part of a larger pattern, citing HHS data showing that approximately 2,000 minors have been in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement since President Trump took office.
Volunteers who accompany immigrants to their routine appointments with ICE at 26 Federal Plaza say detentions now occur out of sight of the press, sometimes in groups and sometimes even before people reach the check-in counter.
