Brooklyn Leaders Call For Student’s Release From ICE Detention

BROOKLYN, NY — Brooklyn leaders and immigration advocates are continuing the fight, demanding the immediate release of a student held in federal custody.

Council Member Lincoln Restler, along with Council Members Rita Joseph and Alexa Aviles, the New York Immigration Coalition, Borough President Antonio Reynoso, and other advocates and members of Brooklyn Frontiers High School, rallied together demanding the release of Mamadou Mouctar Diallo.

Diallo, a 20-year-old asylum seeker from Guinea, was detained by ICE agents last week following a routine immigration court appearance at 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan, Patch previously reported.

"Mouctar came to the United States from Guinea last year seeking asylum. He has followed every rule in the asylum process, but instead of getting a fair hearing — he has been disappeared by ICE agents," Restler said.

In a message to the community, Council Member Restler said Diallo’s principal reached out to him about the detention and shared how profoundly shaken the school community has been. Since arriving in New York City last year, Diallo has become deeply embedded in the local community. He was completing a culinary internship, caring for a public garden with the Audubon Society, and training to become a security guard.

His teachers also described him as a quiet, serious, and hardworking student committed to his education.

The Department of Homeland Security stated that Diallo crossed the Southern border illegally as part of a caravan of 51 people and will remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.

Diallo is at least the third New York City public school student detained by ICE this year, according to city immigration advocates.

"We’re working with his school community and loved ones to explore every possible avenue to ensure that ICE frees Mouctar now so he can return home to Brooklyn and continue on his path to asylum," Restler added.