09-07-2025
College Student in Green Card Process Detained by ICE
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
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Sara Lizeth Lopez Garcia, a 20-year-old Colombian honors student at Suffolk County Community College, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials at her Long Island home in May after they came looking for someone else, said her fiancé, Santiago Ruiz Castilla.
Newsweek has confirmed via the ICE detainee database that Lopez Garcia is being held at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center.
Newsweek has contacted Castilla for comment via GoFundMe and ICE, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and Suffolk County Community College via email.
Why It Matters
Lopez Garcia's detention comes amid the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. President Donald Trump has pledged to launch the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history.
Immigrants residing in the country illegally and legally, with valid documentation such as green cards and visas, have been detained. Newsweek has reported dozens of cases involving green card holders and applicants who were swept up in the immigration raids and various arrests.
Lopez Garcia's detention has raised concerns at Suffolk County Community College, where almost 40 percent of the student body identifies as Latino.
A composite image of the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile on April 8 and an inset of Sara Lizeth Lopez Garcia from the GoFundMe page set up on her behalf.
A composite image of the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile on April 8 and an inset of Sara Lizeth Lopez Garcia from the GoFundMe page set up on her behalf.
GoFundMe/AP Photo/Gerald Herbert
What To Know
According to Patch, immigration officials appeared early on May 21 at Lopez Garcia's residence, where she lived with her mother and teenage brother.
Lopez Garcia and her mother were taken into ICE custody, while her brother remained on Long Island. They have since been transferred to the GEO Group-operated South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile.
Castilla said in an online fundraiser for Lopez Garcia's legal funds, "ICE wasn't even looking for them, but for someone completely unrelated who didn't live at their address."
He told Patch that his fiancée was born in Colombia and moved to the U.S. in 2020 when she was 15 years old. She was majoring in interior design and involved in community service and mentorship programs at school, where she held a 3.9 GPA.
Castilla said she had been granted Special Immigrant Juvenile status, which is designed to protect young immigrants who have experienced abuse or neglect. The status allows individuals who have come into the country to stay legally. Castilla said she and her mother had Social Security numbers and work permits.
He wrote on GoFundMe, "She is currently in the process of obtaining her permanent residency." He told Patch that Lopez Garcia and her mother had no criminal history or deportation orders.
A GoFundMe campaign for her legal fees had raised more than $21,000 as of Wednesday morning.
What People Are Saying
Santiago Ruiz Castilla wrote on GoFundMe: "My fiancé is known for her kindness and dedication, and she needs our support. She's the kind of person who brings light into every room, always striving to do her best and help those around her. … Both the mother and daughter are hardworking women who came to this country with dreams of building a better life. They have always given to their community with open hearts, and now they need our support more than ever."
Dante Morelli, a professor of communications at Suffolk County Community College, told Newsday: "Our community is outraged by this. It's just an awful, terrible situation."
Cynthia Eaton, an English professor who taught Lopez Garcia, told Newsday: "I've been teaching for 30 years … and sometimes you meet a student who just stands out. Sara was one of those."
What Happens Next
Lopez Garcia is being held in Louisiana and awaiting an immigration hearing. She and Castilla were scheduled to be married on August 7.
Castilla told Newsday that amid her detention, Lopez Garcia agreed in June to self-deport.
