by
Maykol Bogoya Duarte, Michigan Immigrant Rights Center
Update: 4:25 p.m., Wednesday -- Detroit High School student Maykol Bogoya-Duarte, 18, of Colombia, has lost his appeal to stay in the country and will be deported soon, his attorney confirmed today, according to the Detroit News.
"I don't know when his deportation is, but I expect it will happen pretty quickly," said attorney Ruby Robinson of for the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, The News reports.
Reported From Earlier Wednesday
A student at Western International High School in southwest Detroit, who hails from Colombia, faces deportation just before graduating. He needs 3 1/2 more credits, which he could get by the end of the year.
The Detroit Free Press reports:
Maykol Bogoya Duarte, 18, of Detroit, was stopped by a Rockwood police officer on May 20 while on his way to a Downriver park, accused of tailgating the officer. The police officer, who was driving in an unmarked car, then called Border Patrol because of a "language barrier," according to a Rockwood police report obtained Monday, June 9, by the Free Press.
Duarte, an immigrant from Colombia, was later transported five hours north to an ICE detention center at the Chippewa County Correctional Facility in Sault Ste. Marie and is now in a Louisiana detention center. He has no criminal record, his attorney said, but had lost his appeal to stay in the U.S.
Duarte's attorney has filed an application with the Detroit ICE office to let his client complete high school before returning home. Duarte was denied asylum last year and is in the process of getting a passport to return to Colombia, the Detroit News reports.
On Monday, Congressman Shri Thanedar posted on X:
"ICE should not be detaining high schoolers! Maykol Bogoya-Duarte just needs 3 credits to graduate, but was put in detention by ICE. He should be released immediately and allowed to get his diploma."
The Freep notes that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Michigan's two Democratic senators have not commented publicly on the issue.
