Contributed Photo
Mario Aguilar Castañon, seated at center, with friends Monday night back in New Haven.
A Wilbur Cross junior rang in the new year back home with friends — hours after his release from federal detention in a case that became a cause celebre for his fellow schoolmates and for immigration-rights reformers.
A federal judge Monday granted asylum to the student, 18-year-old Mario Aguilar Castañon.
Monday night, just before 2019 ended and 2020 was rung in, he returned home to his family in New Haven.
He is pictured above with friends from school Monday night as well as with immigrant-rights organizer John Lugo (standing second from right).
Federal Immigraiton and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents had arrested Castañon more than three months ago at the Milford state courthouse where he was answering charges related to a motor vehicle accident, including driving without a license. They brought him to a federal detention facility in Boston pending a decision about whether he should be deported back to Guatemala, which he had fled out of fear of deadly gang violence.
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Connecticut Students for A Dream and others rally for Castañon’s release Monday at City Hall.
His classmates and teachers rallied for him up in Boston and here in Connecticut, as recently as Monday afternoon. (Read about that here.)
The Students and Alumni of Cross High School deserve MUCH credit for their perseverance for their stance with their classmate until his release.
If they are any example of the next generation, the country will be just fine.
The Rev. Mr. Samuel T. Ross-Lee