Dems urge ICE to release detained Detroit high schoolers and parents

Max Reinhart, The Detroit News on Dec 9, 2025

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A team of Democratic lawmakers from Michigan is calling on federal authorities to release four current or recent students at a Detroit high school and their families, all whom have been detained in the last few weeks.

The detainees have been living in the U.S. after fleeing violence and instability in their homelands of Venezuela and Senegal, according to the Democrats. The lawmakers say each had been following the immigration process and posed no risk to public safety.

“These Detroit students should be in their classrooms, not torn from their community,” said U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Detroit in a statement. “It is cruel and unacceptable for ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to traumatize young people and their families who came here seeking a better life and an opportunity to thrive. I am demanding their immediate release."

Tlaib was among 11 Democrats to sign a letter, dated Tuesday and addressed to ICE Field Directors Kevin Raycraft and Miguel Vergara, urging them to release the detainees and return them to Detroit.

Spokespersons for ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection didn't immediately respond to requests to verify the Democrats' claims.

Four of the seven immigrants were allegedly detained at their home in Detroit around 5 a.m. on Nov. 20, the Democrat lawmakers said. ICE agents were looking for another individual but ended up detaining 16-year-old Kerly Mariangel Sosa Rivero and her father, Gleiner Jose Sosa Mujica, 38. They also detained Sosa Rivero's cousin, 16-year-old Antony Janier Peña Sosa and his mother, Maryeli Antonieta Sosa Marquina, 35.

Six days later, immigration agents driving an unmarked car conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle driven by 19-year-old Mor Ba. Agents were again seeking a different person, the Democrats allege, but nonetheless detained Ba.

Then, on Sunday, Fraser police allegedly alerted immigration officials after pulling over a vehicle occupied by 17-year-old Santiago Jesus Zamora Perez and his mother, Evelin Josefina Perez, 45, because the vehicle was being driven too slowly.

Ba immigrated to the U.S. from Senegal; The other detainees are originally from Venezuela, according to the lawmakers. Each has a pending application seeking asylum in the U.S.

“The abduction of these students is unconscionable,” said state Sen. Erika Geiss of Taylor in a statement. “ICE is separating good, hardworking people from their homes, their schools, and their workplace. These students and their families came to this country to seek a better life, and instead are the victims of political violence at the hands of an indiscriminating agency that is abusing its power."

Immigration enforcement has been a key issue for President Donald Trump. Federal authorities said thousands of suspected terrorists, drug dealers and gang members have been arrested since Trump created the Homeland Security Task Force in June.

But opponents say law enforcement too often is detaining and deporting nonviolent asylum seekers.

“As an immigrant and proud Detroiter, I am heartbroken and outraged by the fear these harmful actions inflict on young people who came here seeking safety and protection," said Detroit City Council member Gabriela Santiago Romero in a statement. "ICE must release them immediately so they can continue their education, keep their families together, and pursue their asylum cases with dignity. Detroiters will not look away while our children are taken."

According to ICE's Online Detainee Locator System, Ba is being held at the North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, Michigan, and the other adult detainees are being held at Dilley Immigration Processing Center in southern Texas. The ICE database does not provide information about juvenile detainees but the Democrat lawmakers said each also being held at Dilley.

The three minor detainees are currently enrolled at Western International High School in southwest Detroit, the Dems said, while Ba recently graduated from the school.

News of the detentions comes after another Western Internation student, Maykol Bogoya-Duarte, 18, was deported in June to his native Colombia after fighting to stay in the U.S. for six months so he could earn his diploma. More than 75% of the student body at Western International identifies as Hispanic, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Detroit Public Schools Community District called the detentions "unacceptable and deeply troubling to our entire community."

"These raids create fear and anxiety that harm student well-being, attendance, and academic success," the district said in a statement. "DPSCD remains unwavering in its commitment to protect our students and families."Officials said DPSCD has implemented strict protocols to ensure ICE cannot enter its schools or buildings without proper legal authority.

The district said it has also partnered with community organizations to provide resources and support for affected families, and educating the DPSCD community about their legal rights.

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