BUFFALO, NY – Following an emergency motion from the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), Prisoners’ Legal Services of New York (PLS), and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, a federal district court ordered the release of Oliver Mata Velazquez — a 19-year old asylum seeker who was unlawfully arrested by ICE agents while attending a mandated court hearing in June and then fast-tracked for deportation. This happened despite Oliver’s legal entry into the United States, lack of a criminal history, and compliance with all government orders when applying for U.S. citizenship. Oliver will now return to Buffalo to reunite with his family and community as his asylum case moves forward. 

In his order releasing Oliver, Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo of the Western District of New York wrote, “Mata Velasquez must be given “the opportunity to be heard ‘at a meaningful time and in a meaningful manner… The new administration can change the rules, but it cannot change them and make up new rules as it goes along when the new rules abridge constitutional rights.”

“While it’s an enormous relief that Oliver can return to his home in Buffalo, ICE should have never detained him in the first place,” said Amy Belsher, Director of Immigrants’ Rights Litigation at the New York Civil Liberties Union. “As the Court rightly found, Oliver’s detention was entirely unjustified and violated his constitutional right to due process. We will continue fighting the Trump administration’s attempts to arbitrarily arrest people en masse who are following the rules by showing up for their scheduled court hearings.”

“As the Court noted in their decision, Oliver followed all the rules,” said Sarah Gillman, Director of Strategic U.S. Litigation at Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights. “He came to the United States as a teenager, hopeful for a better future, and at every step, he did exactly what the government asked of him. ICE’s decision to arrest him at the courthouse door wasn’t just duplicitous and illegal — it’s a disturbing sign of how far this administration will go to carry out its anti-immigrant agenda. We’re grateful that the Court did right by Oliver and we hope this decision sends a strong message.”

“The Judge recognized that ‘every day that [Oliver] is detained harms him’ and correctly ordered him released,” said Jillian Novak, Managing Attorney at Prisoners’ Legal Services. “We are grateful he is back home with his family and community.” 

These events follow weeks of ICE agents storming courthouses and targeting, arresting, and detaining people attending mandatory court appointments across the state. This includes Dylan, a high schooler from the Bronx who ICE arrested when attending a routine court date, another student in New York City, and more.

For all case materials, please see here.