Immigration Agency Rejects Ossining Student's Deportation Appeal

Diego Ismael Puma Macancela lost his appeal of the deportation order that led to his detention. The 19-year-old Ossining High School student was arrested by immigration agents last Thursday, the day of his senior prom.

Attorney Karin Anderson of Neighbors Link of Northern Westchester filed an appeal Monday on his behalf but said Immigration and Customs Enforcement rejected it.

"They interpreted his request for asylum as Diego being a member of the gang that he was actually fleeing from," she told a conference call of reporters and community members on Wednesday, hours after being notified by ICE.

Anderson said she is exploring other legal options to prevent Macancela from being deported back to Ecuador; the process could take weeks or months. Macancela and his mother were both caught at the Mexican border in late 2014 and lost their asylum cases in November of 2016. They are now being held in the same Orange County detention center, after previously being detained in separate facilities.

Carolo Bracco, Executive Director of Neighbors Link of Northern Westchester, said asylum cases are very complicated. "We're not sure Diego and his mom understood what the November 2016 judge's ruling meant and whether they could continue to appeal that," she explained, adding that they also didn't have the resources to continue paying an attorney. Her organization is representing the student for free and another nonprofit is now representing his mother.

Macancela's case has attracted widespread attention and Neighbors Link said close to 20,000 people have signed a petition in support of the student. Westchester Congresswoman Nita Lowey sent a letter on Friday to ICE Acting Director Thomas Homan asking him to stay the removal. She called Homan on Monday to discuss the case, according to her press secretary Roy Loewenstein. 

Anderson said community support means a lot to her client. She visited him in the previous detention facility in New Jersey, before he was moved on Monday to New York, and said, "I saw the expression on his face change when he saw all the letters and petitions of support."