Maykol Bogoya-Duarte (Photo courtesy of Michigan Immigrant Rights Center)
DETROIT (FOX 2) - A request to pause the deportation of a Detroit Public Schools Community District high school student was denied by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Wednesday, meaning that the 18-year-old will be sent back to Columbia.
Maykol Bogoya-Duarte, 18, who arrived in the United States 2 ½ years ago, was detained on his way to an International Western High School field trip last month.
The backstory:
The community and school district have rallied behind Bogoya-Duarte, calling for a stay of his deportation.
Bogoya-Duarte's teacher, Kristen Shoettle, said that he was driving to Lake Erie Metropark for a field trip when he was pulled over in Rockwood. Bogoya-Duarte and four other students had chosen to drive to the park on their own, a choice Schoettle called "an adolescent mistake."
"I also think we all can agree that skipping school and driving without a license shouldn't be justification for imprisonment and deportation," she said while speaking in front of the DPSCD school board on Tuesday night.
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Detroit high schooler loses appeal to prevent deportation
A Detroit high school junior who was arrested while on a field trip is expected to be deported after he was picked up by Immigration Customs and Enforcement.
Schoettle said that when she learned her students had been pulled over, she went to Rockwood to get them. While there, she said the officer who stopped the students told her that he had to call Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for a Spanish translator due to a language barrier.
FOX 2 has reached out to Rockwood police for more details about this traffic stop.
"Maykol broke a few rules here, sure. He was truant; half our students are truant. Let's be real. He drove without a license. People with more complicated immigration statuses do have to get around," Schoettle said.
Bogoya-Duarte, who is from Columbia, was detained and sent to a prison in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Schoettle said, while she was able to leave with the other four students. According to the teacher, he was then transferred to Battle Creek before being sent to Louisiana. The Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC), which is representing Bogoya-Duarte, confirmed this, adding that ICE was preparing a full flight of deportees to send to Columbia.
"He could be deported at any minute, and we just found out he's at a prison in Louisiana. This is the last stop," Schoettle said on Tuesday night.
Early Wednesday afternoon, MIRC posted a letter from ICE stating that the stay of Bogoya-Duarte's removal was denied.
What they're saying:
The MIRC said Bogoya-Duarte is 3 ½ credits away from graduating from high school.
Schoettle and others who spoke at Tuesday's board meeting called for the district to condemn Bogoya-Duarte's detainment and call for his release so that he can finish high school.
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"It just says your status has been terminated - leave the United States immediately," Robinson said. "The fairness and the due process have disappeared."
After hearing from dozens of people over the span of several hours, the school board went into a closed session, where they drafted a statement calling for a formal stay for Bogoya-Duarte as he finishes his diploma in Detroit:
The Detroit Public Schools Community District Board of Education stands firmly with our community in demanding the immediate stay of deportation for our student, Maykol Bogoya Duarte. Maykol is part of our DPSCD family, and we are heartbroken by the fear and disruption this situation has caused his loved ones, classmates, and school community. We call for the immediate release of Maykol and request a formal stay of his deportation. We want him to complete his coursework and graduate with his high school diploma—just as he has worked hard to do. We will also continue to keep in touch with the family and keep the school community updated.
The other side:
In a statement, CBP said Bogoya-Duarte had lost an appeal to a removal order. According to his attorney, he sought asylum last year, but that request was denied. He was the only person out of the five students in the vehicle not legally in the U.S., CBP said.
Full statement from Customs:
"An illegal alien with a final deportation order was arrested while driving high school students on a field trip near Rockwood, Michigan.
"Local police pulled over the vehicle and found the driver had no license—only a City of Detroit ID. Border Patrol confirmed he was in the country illegally, having ignored a judge’s removal order and lost his appeal.
"All four passengers were students from Western International High School. The driver was the only one without legal status and was turned over to ICE custody."
The Source: Information from a Detroit Public Schools Community District board meeting, the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, and Customs and Border Protection were used to report this story.
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