Cincinnati high school graduate faces deportation after routine ICE check-in
Emerson Colindres, who arrived in the United States as a child over a decade ago, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during what his supporters say was a routine check-in at an ICE facility in Cincinnati suburb Blue Ash last Wednesday.
According to his soccer coach Brian Williams, ICE agents were waiting for Colindres at the facility, which operates the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP) -- an alternative to detention.
"That's when they informed us that they were detaining and deporting Emerson only," Williams told Cincinnati ABC affiliate WCPO. "No explanation was given."
Colindres and his family sought asylum after arriving from Honduras, but their case and subsequent appeal were denied with a final removal order issued in 2023. His supporters say the family had been regularly checking in with ICE and were never explicitly told to leave the country.
The Department of Homeland Security, responding to inquiries about the case, emphasized their current enforcement policies in a statement to WCPO.
"Those arrested had executable final orders of removal by an immigration judge and had not complied with that order. If you are in the country illegally and a judge has ordered you to be removed, that is precisely what will happen," it said.
The department also noted that "ICE's ATD-Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP) exists to ensure compliance with release conditions."
As news of Colindres's detention spread, support from his community has grown steadily. Outside the Cincinnati jail where Colindres is being held, soccer teammates and community members have gathered in protest.
"No kid our age should be going through what he's going through. He's alone. He's in a jail cell right now all by himself," Josh Williams, a friend of Colindres, told WCPO.
MORE: LA immigration protests live updates: Newsom warns of 'authoritarianism' after Trump threatens his arrest
His soccer coach, Brian Williams, became emotional discussing the situation.
"Emerson's one of the best kids I've ever met," he told WCPO. "We don't know what we can do, but we're doing whatever we can."
Teammates described Colindres as an exceptional player and person.
"He's like the best player I've ever seen. He's dedicated. He wants to win," Preston Robinson, a friend and teammate, told WCPO.
Robinson emphasized to WCPO that Colindres had no choice in his immigration status as a child.
"It's not like he had a say in whether he could or couldn't come," he said. "I just wanted to be here to show that I support him. Support anybody that's going through this, because it's just not fair."
The Department of Homeland Security noted in their statement that "ICE's ATD-Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP) exists to ensure compliance with release conditions."
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Axios
43 minutes ago
- Axios
ICE arrests of noncriminals surge in the DMV
Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests of people without criminal charges or convictions have jumped in D.C., Virginia and Maryland, newly obtained data shows. Why it matters: The numbers illustrate a major shift that occurred soon after the Trump administration tripled ICE's daily arrest quota. Driving the news: In Virginia and D.C., people without criminal charges or convictions made up an average of 60% of daily ICE arrests in early June, per agency data obtained by the UC Berkeley School of Law's Deportation Data Project. That's up from about 50% in early May, before the quota increase. That percentage was only slightly lower in Maryland: 55%, up from 49% in May. In January, ICE didn't conduct any D.C. noncriminal arrests. The big picture: Nationwide, an average of 47% of daily ICE arrests were of people without criminal records in early June, a jump from about 21% a month prior. The spike came despite the Trump administration's claimed focus on criminals living in the country illegally. And it happened just after the Trump administration told ICE to arrest at least 3,000 people daily, up from 1,000. The other side: Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to Axios that 70% of ICE arrests were for immigrants with criminal convictions or pending charges, but did not elaborate on that figure. Context: Being in the U.S. illegally is a civil, not criminal, violation. The intrigue: Virginia is one of a few states where efforts to arrest and remove unauthorized immigrants is most aggressive. In February, the state launched the nation's first task force that partners with federal agencies to target illegal immigration. Feds have also accessed Virginia's automatic license plate reader system for immigration enforcement this year — though a new state law more strictly regulates the use for criminal or missing/endangered person investigations only. By the numbers: Overall, ICE arrests are up more than 350% in Virginia since 2024, according to the New York Times. Nearly 3,000 people were arrested between January and May — nearly outpacing larger states like New York. Meanwhile, ICE has been ramping up enforcement at courthouses across the U.S. Zoom in: Fairfax County, home to hundreds of thousands of immigrants and Virginia's largest immigration court, has seen twice as many arrests as others in the state, according to the Times. Advocates say ICE agents arrested several people showing up for immigration hearings at the Annandale courthouse last month. Flashback: Immigration enforcement at courthouses wasn't allowed under the Biden administration. It's happened in others, but not commonly.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
Trump administration wants $1.2 billion tent city at Texas Army base, country's largest immigration detention center
Trump administration officials have awarded a $1.26 billion contract to build a sprawling tent camp to detain immigrants at an Army base in Texas. The 5,000-bed facility at Fort Bliss, once complete, will be the largest immigration detention facility in the country. The deal, awarded to Virginia-based contractor Acquisition Logistics Company, was first reported by The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News. The contractor, which has previously done supply chain work for the military, does not appear to have past detention experience, according to a review of records by Bloomberg. The Army is paying $232 million worth of the contract, per the outlet. The deal comes after a previous $3.8 billion contract to build a tent camp at Fort Bliss was awarded, then retracted earlier this year. The contracted detention center adds to capacity in the area, where there is an existing Immigration and Customs Enforcement tent facility in use in northeast El Paso. Critics argue that tent-based detention camps suffer from poor conditions. Detainees say that at a Florida detention center dubbed Alligator Alcatraz, hastily constructed out of tents and trailers on a defunct air strip, they were given no water, maggot-infested food, and exposed to mosquitoes. Civil rights groups have sued over conditions at the facility, alleging detainees were denied due process and legal counsel. Since taking office, the Trump administration has embarked on a mass expansion of immigration-related spending. The White House's signature One Big, Beautiful Bill spending package includes an unprecedented $45 billion worth of detention-related funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which has already used Fort Bliss as a hub for deportation flights. As of last week, more than 56,000 people were in immigration detention across the country, and the administration has said its further investments could increase bed capacity to 100,000. The military reportedly has plans to use bases in Indiana and New Jersey to further expand detention capabilities. With this spike in detention comes worsening conditions in immigrant detention centers, according to critics. Video from inside a New York City detention facility shows about two dozen people on a cement floor with nothing but emergency blankets near a partially exposed toilet 'Look how they have us like dogs in here,' the person filming the videos can be heard saying in Spanish. At least 14 people have died this fiscal year in immigration detention, outpacing past administrations. Outside of detaining immigrants, the Trump administration has made marked use of the military in other areas of immigration policy, including conducting deportation flights, sending Marines into the streets of Los Angeles to respond to anti-immigration raid protests, and creating new military border zones where troops can arrest border-crossers.


Fox News
8 hours ago
- Fox News
Sen. Chris Murphy warns Trump expanding ICE with 'unsavory' people, allowing them to wear masks
Sen. Chris Murphy warned that President Trump rapidly expanding ICE and allowing them to wear masks as they conduct raids will lead to a wave of "depravity that none of us should accept."