Bianca Seward/Houston Public Media
A Houston ISD scholar who was the captain of his highschool’s soccer staff was deported to Honduras on Wednesday after he spent months in two totally different federal detention facilities, in accordance to two native lawmakers and a supply shut to the household.
Houston Public Media is advised Mauro Henriquez, an 18-year-old senior at Sam Houston Math, Science, and Technology Center, was knowledgeable of his deportation Tuesday evening. The subsequent day he was flown to Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras.
“It’s just tragic that he’s been deported,” U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, mentioned Thursday. “This is a young man. A senior in high school. A captain of a soccer team. [He’s] never committed a crime before, completely clean record. He should be in school. He should be getting ready to graduate with his teammates and instead he’s been deported to Honduras.”
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark and questions on Henriquez’s case.
Henriquez was detained Dec. 16 alongside his father, throughout a check-in with ICE brokers. Initially the 2 had been despatched to the Montgomery Processing Center in Conroe. Henriquez was later separated from his father and moved to the IAH Secure Adult Detention Facility in Livingston on Feb. 12.
An ICE spokesperson beforehand mentioned the switch was for “routine detention management purposes.”
Earlier in February, an ICE spokesperson mentioned Henriquez and his father, Mauro Henriquez-Alfaro, had each obtained “full due process under the law and been ordered deported.” The spokesperson added that Henriquez-Alfaro had beforehand been deported to Honduras in July 2008 for illegally getting into the U.S.
“The media and the public need to understand that employment authorization does NOT confer any type of legal status in the United States,” the ICE spokesperson additionally wrote in an e mail in early February. “It is a permission to work, not a green card or visa, and does not grant lawful status or shield illegal aliens from immigration enforcement actions.”
RELATED: One out of every seven Houston-area residents know of someone detained by ICE, survey finds
Garcia’s workplace mentioned Henriquez, the coed, just lately received new authorized illustration. For nearly all of the time since he was detained in December, he didn’t have a lawyer, in accordance to Garcia’s workplace.
State Rep. Christina Morales, D-Houston, mentioned she visited Henriquez for a second time on Good Friday, April 3. She says when Henriquez advised her concerning the day he was detained, he recalled being nervous throughout the check-in after brokers took his father into one other room.
“He thought something’s wrong, and [said] ‘I wonder if I should walk out of here,'” Morales advised Houston Public Media.
Bianca Seward/Houston Public Media
At the time of their latest go to, Henriquez nonetheless thought he could also be launched from ICE detention and allowed to keep in the U.S., in accordance to Morales. She requested him what he’d like to do most when he will get out.
“I just want to see my mom,” Henriquez advised Morales, in accordance to the elected official.
RELATED: Texas state leaders target school walkouts as students rally for Houston teen detained by ICE
Henriquez had an asylum declare and had been in the United States for almost 10 years, in accordance to a supply shut to his household.
Henriquez’ detention sparked backlash from the group, and greater than 100 college students rallied in February outdoors of Sam Houston Math, Science, and Technology Center, the place he was enrolled as a senior and served as captain for the college’s soccer staff.
On April 1, college students at Sam Houston gathered to hand-write letters to authorities officers advocating for Henriquez’s launch.
The letters say, “Mauro is a part of a community that cares deeply about him,” and that he “should be continuing his education and preparing to graduate, not separated from his family and future.”
RELATED: Democrats, Harris County residents sue to stop ICE operations in the Houston area
Garcia says she will likely be asking Houston ISD about what might be finished to assist Henriquez earn a diploma.
“I am concerned because the detention center was not providing any educational support,” Garcia mentioned, “and I don’t know that HISD was providing any educational support anymore than the detention center.”
HISD didn’t reply to questions on whether or not lodging can be made for Henriquez to full his research and earn a diploma.
Morales mentioned her workplace can also be inquiring about methods to assist Henriquez end highschool. She says she is pissed off and heartbroken by Henriquez’s story.
“I want folks to understand that this is happening to children. When I see him, he is still a child to me,” Morales mentioned. “He was definitely on his way to greater things, and now he’s gone.”