City, Cross Prepare To Welcome Esdrás Home

Wilbur Cross High School community members joined city officials and local immigrant rights activists Friday in celebrating a federal judge’s ruling that an ICE-detained student can be released on bond – even as they cautioned that there is still much work to be done.

The celebration came in the form of a press conference held outside Wilbur Cross at 181 Mitchell St. that featured Tina Colón Williams, the lawyer representing 18-year-old Cross student Esdrás Zabaleta-Ramirez, along with Mayor Justin Elicker, Supt. Madeline Negrón, and Wilbur Cross staff. 

The conference was organized by local undocumented youth rights organization CT Students for a Dream and moderated by Executive Director Tabitha Sookdeo. 

On Thursday, a federal immigration court judge granted Zabaleta-Ramirez a bond of $1,500, more than a month after he was first picked up by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents as part of a workplace raid of a car wash. That $1,500 bond was the lowest amount possible, according to Zabaleta-Ramirez’s lawyer.

“It is a true testament of community,” Sookdeo said. ​“This is a time for us to build power.”

The judge’s order means that Zabaleta-Ramirez could be released from a Massachusetts immigrant detention center as early as this weekend — as he continues to work to apply for a green card. As of Friday morning, Zabaleta-Ramirez was still in ICE custody.

Colón Williams celebrated Thursday’s win and received a round of applause from attendees. ​“This means Esdrás can go back to school, focus on his life, his community,” she said.

She described the grueling effect of Zabaleta-Ramirez first being subject to ​“expedited removal:” his being sent to a detention center in Massachusetts, then to Louisiana, then nearly deported to his home country of Guatemala before the intervention of Colón Williams, then returned to Massachusetts. ​“This is becoming the new norm,” she said, ​“the swiftness and transfer of removal.”

With Colón Williams’ intervention and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) no longer seeking expedited removal, she was able to request a bond hearing. 

What happened Thursday, she said, was remarkable, as DHS chose not to appeal the judge’s decision, even though it has enacted expansive use of mandatory detention for immigrants. ​“His release was the exception, not the rule,” she reminded attendees. 

Regarding who Zabaleta-Ramirez is, Colón Williams said that ​“he has had to be brave every day. Fighting to maintain hope is hard. But at the end of the day, he’s a teenager.” She said that in the wake of Thursday’s news, his family has felt ​“overwhelming relief. ​‘Is it real? Thank God.’ ”

The only substantive comment that ICE has provided the Independent with so far about the July 21 workplace raid came from DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, who said that Zabaleta-Ramirez was arrested as part of a​“worksite site enforcement operation” on that day at a car wash in Southington.

“This illegal alien entered the country as an unaccompanied minor under the Biden Administration and was released into the country,” McLaughlin said.​“He has been placed in immigration proceedings.”

Abisua, a CT Students for a Dream member and classmate of Zabaleta-Ramirez, spoke in Spanish at Friday’s press conference. She described her joy that Zabaleta-Ramirez had been granted bond. She said that she and her peers are full of hope in their hearts. While she is happy he will be able to sleep in his own bed for the first time in weeks, she reminded attendees that it should have never happened like this. Zabaleta-Ramirez should have been able to start his junior year of high school. 

The fight doesn’t end here, Abisua said. She emphasized that many families still live in fear, and many young immigrants continue to face barriers to studying and working for a better life. She encouraged attendees to fight so that every immigrant can live with dignity and without fear of being torn from their home, their school, or their community.

Zabaleta-Ramirez is a member of the International Academy at Wilbur Cross, according to Principal Matt Brown and Asst. Principal of the International Academy Cora Muñoz. Muñoz recalled the Cross community coming together in outrage in 2019 when another student, Mario Aguilar Castañon, was detained by ICE. Aguilar Castañon was later granted asylum and able to return home. 

“We will continue to be a safe and welcoming place for every single person who walks through our doors,” Muñoz said.

“Esdrás is one of my most beloved students,” said Wilbur Cross teacher Kris Mendoza. ​“But what we did for Esdrás we would do for any of our students. Esdrás is an extraordinary person, but a person shouldn’t have to be an extraordinary person to get due process.” 

With a call to boycott Avelo Airlines, Mendoza finished her remarks by saying, ​“Esdrás, bienvenidos a casa.”

When asked what the city and school district are doing to support its immigrant students, Negrón said that New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) is continuing to enforce the guidelines the district drafted in January, stating that ICE agents would not be able to enter schools without a warrant. Negrón emphasized the district’s core values of ​“inclusivity and treating everyone as a human being.”

She pleaded with immigrant families to send their children to school. She said that the district ​“knows the law — we won’t break the law, but we know what you [immigration authorities] need to be let in.”

Negrón also said that for children who disclose that their parents have been detained by ICE, the district immediately connects children with mental health services and a social worker. She described school staff and teachers coming together to help provide meals and groceries for an impacted student. 

“I know what this is about — I’m going to say it,” Negrón said. ​“This is about continuing to oppress marginalized communities. Someone like me, who has risen from poverty, we do that by getting access to public education. That’s how we rise out of poverty. … This is denying children access to public education.”

Elicker spoke for the city, stating that school staff have been provided specific guidance to avoid being accused by ICE of interfering with arrests. He also said that the city has submitted a formal complaint to DHS about its tactics, including using unmasked agents in unmarked clothes.

“My counterpart mayors are taking a lower profile,” he said. ​“At this point, I think that’s the wrong move.”

Colón Williams noted that in slowing down the legal process for Zabaleta-Ramirez, ​“the system was actually doing its job by individually considering his case. It shouldn’t be that difficult for that to be the right for every non-citizen.”

She called on New Haveners to maintain awareness, as she said that there is plenty of immigration misinformation. ​“Many people support expanded immigration enforcement,” she said, ​“but don’t understand the human cost of that.”

In a separate comment sent out in an email press release Friday, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro also celebrated the judge’s decision to approve Zabaleta-Ramirez’s release on bond.

“I am relieved that our community has continued to stand together in support of Esdrás, a beloved student at Wilbur Cross High School, who has now been granted release from detention by a judge, after previously having his deportation flight cancelled thanks to an outcry from New Haven residents, students, and leaders,” DeLauro is quoted as saying. ​“He should have been attending his first week of school, and now he will have the opportunity to come home.

“The Trump Administration promised to focus on deporting violent criminals, but too many people like Esdrás are being targeted instead. I was proud to write a letter in support of Esdrás release, and I will continue to stand with our community and for the due process rights guaranteed to everyone under our Constitution.”