Brooklyn Student Granted Asylum, Released From ICE Detention

BROOKLYN, NY — A Brooklyn student who was taken into ICE custody earlier this year, sparking protests over the summer, has been released, city officials said.

Mamadou Diallo, 20, a Brooklyn Frontiers High School student and asylum seeker from Guinea, was detained in August after a routine court appearance, sparking outrage among community members, classmates and local advocacy groups.

His detention became a focal point for protests highlighting ICE’s practices and their impact on young immigrants in the city. Local leaders, including Council Members Lincoln Restler, Rita Joseph, and Alexa Aviles, Borough President Antonio Reynoso, and advocacy groups like the New York Immigration Coalition, spoke out against his detainment.

Members of New York’s Democratic congressional delegation also wrote an open letter to the Trump administration regarding Diallo’s case and several others, while Mayor Adams’ administration filed a letter supporting a bond hearing.

In an update, Restler told the community that Diallo’s lawyers at The Door and Legal Aid worked tirelessly to secure his release. In late November, Diallo was granted asylum based on his political opposition and ethnicity, and three days later he was released from a Pennsylvania detention facility.

He is now back home in Brooklyn.

"I am so grateful that he will be able to keep making his home here in Brooklyn, where he has been an example of what we all hope to see in our young New Yorkers," Restler added.

Since arriving in New York City last year, Diallo had become deeply involved in the local community. He was completing a culinary internship, volunteering to care for a public garden with the Audubon Society, and training to become a security guard.

Diallo’s detention occurred amid several high-profile immigration cases involving New York City students at the start of the school year. One such case involved 11th grader Derlis Snaider Chusin Toaquiza, a student at Grover Cleveland High School in Ridgewood, who had been held since June 8.

More than a month later, an immigration judge approved Toaquiza’s release on bond. He had been detained at an ICE facility in Livingston, Texas, following an immigration hearing, Patch previously reported.

Tensions over immigration enforcement in the city continued this past weekend. Several people were arrested after protesters blocked a parking garage near Chinatown, disrupting a planned immigration operation.

The demonstration occurred around 11 a.m. at a Centre Street garage, where protesters had learned that U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents were present.

In a statement, New York Attorney General Letitia James confirmed a “planned federal operation” was underway and said authorities are closely monitoring the situation. She added that the state will continue working with partners to ensure New Yorkers are aware of their rights, including those who were arrested during the protest.