ICE detention of Queens student endangers New Yorkers and court system, Adams admin says

The Adams administration filed an amicus brief in support of Queens Grover Cleveland High student Derlis Snaider Chusin Toaquiza, who was detained by ICE last month. Wikimedia Commons photo by Kidfly182

By Ryan Schwach

The recent federal detention of a Queens high school student by ICE and continued federal deportation actions in the city are endangering New Yorkers as well as the sanctity of the city’s court system, the Adams administration said in a court letter this week.

In an amicus brief filed by the city’s Law Department in the case regarding Derlis Snaider Chusin Toaquiza, a 11th grader from Queens and asylum seeker who was detained at an immigration hearing in June, the administration said Homeland Security’s detainment practices create a "culture of fear.”

The Adams administration's defense of Toaquiza and condemnation of the federal government's deportation tactics comes as City Hall faces continued criticism for cooperating with ICE.

“While the city neither sets immigration policy nor decides who enters the country, it cannot effectively and responsibly govern while turning a blind eye to the many undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers who call New York City home,” the amicus brief, which called for the writ of habeas corpus to be protected in the case, read.

Filed by New York City Corporation Counsel Muriel Goode-Trufant, the letter criticized ICE’s practice of “trapping” and detaining migrants at routine immigration hearings, as the agency did with Toaquiza.

Toaquiza, a 19-year-old 11th grader at Ridgewood’s Grover Cleveland High School who emigrated from Ecuador, had no criminal record and was considered to be a kind and respectful teen by his peers and teachers.

He was detained on June 4 in Manhattan after he and his mother went to a court hearing regarding their efforts to gain asylum. His legal team told Gothamist that the teen was given another hearing for October, but that he was detained by ICE and taken to a facility in Texas.

His family have argued the detainment is illegal.

“He is reportedly one of many people who have been led to believe that their immigration cases were being favorably resolved and then arrested either in or outside an immigration courthouse in Manhattan,” the brief read.

The city’s brief highlighted Toaquiza’s role on the school’s soccer team and said he had “demonstrated a commitment to building a future in the United States and has endeavored to be a positive member of his community.”

Homeland Security claimed that Toaquiza had reached for an officer’s gun, and called the outrage over the arrest a “sob story.”

The Adams administration said that the “trapping” tactic which caught Toaquiza and other asylum seekers in New York City harms local immigrant communities and the nature of the courts.

“Such tactics undermine the public interest. Creating a culture of fear around court appearances deters people from participating in judicial proceedings—and not just immigration proceedings, but all manner of court proceedings that depend on cooperation from members of the public, whatever their legal status may be,” the letter read. “The implications run deep and wide. Many matters critical to the safety and wellbeing of City residents flow through the court system.”

“If these residents fear that simply appearing in court to protect their rights or the rights of others could expose them to detention and removal, our judicial system will suffer, and the City with it,” the letter continued.

Mayor Eric Adams echoed the same sentiments in a statement.

“Every day, our administration is working to make New York City safer and the best place to raise a family, but we know that when immigrant communities are not able to use city services, it makes us all less safe,” he said. “Once again, we are taking legal action in support of another young, New York City student, who was doing what he was supposed to do in attending a mandatory, routine immigration hearing.”

Adams' criticism of the federal government’s actions are contrary to what many see as the mayor’s cooperation with ICE on deportations.

Last month, the City Council led by Speaker Adrienne Adams and Committee on Oversight and Investigations Chair Gale Brewer, asked the Department of Investigation to look into incidents where the city may have given information to the federal government where sanctuary city laws may have prohibited it.

“We are concerned by recent reports that information provided to federal agencies by the NYPD is now being used in civil immigration proceedings in ways that may violate New York City’s laws and New Yorkers’ Constitutional rights,” the councilmembers said.

Adams’ top law enforcement official, Deputy Mayor Kaz Daughtry, defended the ongoing cooperation.

“This is why it’s important to have a seat at the table, to see what’s on the menu and to be on the menu,” Daughtry said in a recent TV appearance. “And that’s what the open dialogue between this administration and the federal authorities is all about.”

Queens Assemblymember Claire Valdez who has advocated for Toaquiza and his family, applauded the amicus brief and said she hopes it means a change in the mayor’s stance on ICE.

“I’m glad to see the mayor supporting Derlis Toaquiza, a student who was kidnapped from his family last month and held hostage by the Trump administration for days without being allowed to contact his family,” said Valdez. “Mayor Adams’ amicus brief is a welcome update, and I hope this signals an end to his administration’s policy of colluding with those responsible for Derlis’ detention in the first place.”

The legal team for Toaquiza and his family did not respond to a request for comment.