Latest news with #DutanPierre
CBS News
05-07-2025
- CBS News
Spring Valley high school student detained by ICE after immigration hearing, dad says
Spring Valley high schooler has been in ICE detention for weeks, father says Spring Valley high schooler has been in ICE detention for weeks, father says Spring Valley high schooler has been in ICE detention for weeks, father says A high school student from Spring Valley is heading into his fifth week in an ICE detention center. Adam Pierre was leaving an immigration hearing in Lower Manhattan on June 4 when, his father and attorney say, he was surrounded by masked federal agents, handcuffed and taken away. His father, Dutan Pierre, was waiting for Adam outside. After five hours, he says he got a call that his son was not coming home. "He followed the lawful pathways" Pierre is a native of Haiti and a United States citizen. He sponsored his son, expecting fast approval because of his own status and the fact Adam is under the age 21. Pierre says Adam says no criminal history and is a good student who plays basketball and football. Vince Sykes, the family's attorney, says Adam entered the country legally. "He followed the lawful pathways," he said. "He went to his immigration court appearance. That's where it happened. That's where he was picked up." Sykes added, "[Adam] said the very first week, all he had was bread and water. That's all they gave them. He said that's since changed." Rev. Jean Claude Dorcelly says fear is palpable in Spring Valley, with some people in hiding, avoiding doctors, workplaces, schools and more. "They're scared to come to church," he said. Student missed finals, summer school deadline Sykes says his client is terrified. "I know it's very hard on him. I know this kid is going to be traumatized," he said. Adam's high school education is now stalled. He missed all his finals, and he was unable to meet a deadline to try to catch up in summer school. "If we had gotten him out, say, last week or whatever, he would have joined up on the summer school program," Sykes said. "I'm very bad ... I cannot sleep," Pierre said. "Give me my son back." Friday morning, CBS News New York emailed an ICE chief about the status of this case and requested an update from the Department of Homeland Security. Neither has responded at this time. Adam is one of several local students who have been taken into ICE custody. In early June, ICE agents detained an 11th grader from Queens outside a local courthouse during a scheduled immigration appointment, and in late May, a Bronx high school student was taken into custody following an immigration hearing.
USA Today
03-07-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
Haitian immigrant high schooler detained by ICE despite legal status
A 20-year-old NY high school student, whose dad is a U.S. citizen, arrived legally from Haiti, but has been held in ICE detention for weeks. A 20-year-old from Haiti has been held in immigration detention for weeks, missing the end of his junior year of high school, although he is in the country legally and his father is a United States citizen. Spring Valley High School student Alan Junior Pierre was picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in early June and is being held at the Delaney Hall Detention Facility in Newark, New Jersey, his lawyer said. The Haitian national, who has no criminal history, had been provided parole by ICE in January, when he sought asylum at the United States-Mexico border, his lawyer Vince Sykes told The Journal News/lohud, part of the USA TODAY Network. The status was based on humanitarian considerations and family support. Pierre is one of a growing number of migrants who entered the United States legally, have broken no laws, but are detained by ICE after showing up at court hearings related to their immigration status. "He applied for admission using the legal procedure that was in place," Sykes said. He followed all the rules, but now, his lawyer said, Pierre sits in an ICE facility; he missed the last weeks of school; he cannot see his family. In the same situation: Boy with leukemia held in detention, threatened with deportation Finally safe, until a May 5 appointment Haiti is so dangerous the state department has issued a "do not travel" warning for the country, saying the risk of kidnapping, crime and civil unrest is too high. Gangs exceed government control in the poorest nation in the region. Alan Pierre appeared to finally be safe from those dangers — his parole status continues through January 2026, according to documents. Now his family is fearful he could end up back in Haiti amid the violence there, said his father, Dutan Pierre of Nanuet, New York, near the New Jersey border. The dad went to Newark, New Jersey, 35 miles away, to try and meet with his son, but was turned away and told to come back on a visiting day. When the father returned, he was told there were no more visitor slots open that day. With translation help and emotional support from the Rev. Jean Claude Dorcelly of Rock Apostle Church in Spring Valley, Dutan Pierre told The Journal News/lohud that his son is a kind and smart kid. If he was sent back to Haiti, the young man would be all alone and at grave risk, Dutan Pierre added. A routine appointment leads to detention Dutan Pierre is a United States citizen and filed a US 1-130 "Petition for Alien Relative" application and adjustment of status on behalf of his son. That allows a relative to stay and apply for permanent residency status, commonly called a green card. Alan Pierre could be eligible for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status because he is a full-time student and under age 21. Despite those factors, ICE took him into custody June 3 after a routine appointment at a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Application Support Center. 'He received a fingerprint application in the Bronx about four weeks ago,' his attorney, Vince Sykes said. 'He went for his fingerprint appointment and got picked up by ICE.' Sykes also has been unable to meet with Alan Pierre, although he has now set up a video meeting. Meanwhile, ICE officials presented paperwork to Alan Pierre to sign and voluntarily be deported, Sykes said. But, the young man didn't sign. "This is why you want people to have counsel immediately," the lawyer said, citing the Sixth Amendment right to prompt legal representation. Sykes said he believes there's no legal basis for ICE's actions. "It is ironic — and deeply troubling — that his compliance with the immigration process triggered his detention," Sykes wrote in a June 24 letter to the ICE Field Office director in Newark, which was obtained by The Journal News/lohud. How a complex system foils Alan Pierre A quick resolution has been frustrated, Sykes said, by Alan Pierre's efforts to follow the rules. Because Alan Pierre presented himself at the United States-Mexico border and was granted parole status by Customs and Border Patrol, ICE has jurisdiction over his case. That means the case operates outside the federal immigration courts. 'It means the immigration judge doesn't have jurisdiction to release him on bond,' Sykes said. 'Any immigration judge would release him; he's got no criminal record. It makes absolutely no sense that he should be detained.' Born in Nyack, stuck in Haiti: Family finally wins fight to prove woman's U.S. citizenship Even if he was able to get a Rockland Family Court proceeding scheduled to seek special juvenile status in his father's home state, Alan Pierre wouldn't be able to show up for court because he remains detained in New Jersey. Sykes said a habeas corpus petition could be filed in federal court — basically a last-ditch civil effort to challenge the legality of Pierre's detention. "It's very exhaustive and involved," Sykes said. Meanwhile, there's a concern that Alan Pierre could be moved to a different facility, which would mean the judicial proceedings would have to start over with a new judge. When asked about what could happen if Alan Pierre does get deported, Dutan Pierre became too emotional to get out more than a couple words in English. "This is so sad," the father said in Haitian Creole. "If he does go to Haiti he would be by himself. The bandits destroyed everything."
