A Bronx public school student detained last year by federal authorities should be added to the list of immigration cases Mayor Zohran Mamdani is asking President Donald Trump to dismiss, immigration advocates and lawyers say.
Dylan Lopez Contreras, an immigrant from Venezuela, was the first New York City public school student to be detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities during Trump’s second-term immigration crackdown. His arrest drew outrage from elected officials, including Mamdani.
His omission from the mayor’s roster of immigration cases raises questions among immigration advocates about how the mayor decided which detainees he sought relief for when he met with Trump at the White House last week. The mayor’s primary reason for visiting the president was to pitch federal funding for housing.
All of the individuals Mamdani chose to bring to the president’s attention had ties to Columbia University, according to details released from the mayor’s office. Four of the people — Mahmoud Khalil, Yunseo Chung, Mohsen Mahdawi and Leqaa Kordia – had participated in demonstrations over Israel’s war in Gaza, a political cause shared by Mamdani.
“Dylan should be at the top of the list,” said Ruth Messinger, a former Manhattan borough president and prominent advocate for immigrants. “It’s the most outrageous detention.
All for the sin of going to school and taking care of his family.”
Messinger said she communicated her concerns last week to an official in the Mamdani administration.
When asked about Contreras' case, Joe Calvello, the mayor’s press secretary, sent a statement about the Columbia students. The statement did not address Contreras.
Power Malu, a grassroots immigration activist who has been assisting Contreras, said he was surprised that the mayor did not include him on his list.
“We are disappointed to say the least, but want to give him the benefit of the doubt and allow him to amend his list,” Malu said in a text.
Chloe Chik, a spokesperson for New York Legal Assistance Group, which is representing Contreras, said his legal team “is tirelessly working for his release through every available channel, including elevating Dylan's case to the Mayor's office, who are in touch with us about next steps.”
Messinger said that Brad Lander, the former city comptroller, reached out to the mayor directly. During the mayoral race, Lander was arrested by federal agents while trying to escort a migrant out of a federal immigration courthouse.
Lauren Hitt, a spokesperson for Lander, said he declined to comment on private conversations with the mayor. But she added that Lander “believes strongly” that Contreras should be released. Lander is running for Congress and has been endorsed by Mamdani.
Contreras, who was a 20-year-old high school student at the time he was detained, is considered among the most high-profile immigration cases in New York City. He was arrested by federal agents on May 21 during a routine hearing in immigration court in Manhattan.
Mamdani, then in the final weeks of his primary race to be the Democratic candidate for mayor, accused Trump’s immigration enforcement of “kidnapping New York City high school students.”
“This is where Eric Adams' silence and complicity has led us,” he added on X.
Last month, Sen. Chuck Schumer brought Contreras’ mother as his guest to Trump’s State of the Union address.
Other prominent detention cases of New Yorkers include a City Council employee who was taken by authorities in March.
Of those on Mamdani’s list, only one was released: Ellie Aghayeva, a 29-year-old Columbia student who was detained the morning the mayor was set to meet with the president.
Messinger said that she thinks the mayor’s strategy of offering up a specific list of individuals makes sense, given Trump’s personality.
“It’s the president’s style,” she said. “He’s not likely to focus.”
But she added that Contreras’ case merited “special attention.”
Contreras recently wrote about his experiences living in a federal detention center in Pennsylvania for the past 10 months. He described a life of “stress and depression” and said he misses his mother’s cooking.
“I hope this comes to an end soon so I can be with you,” he wrote, “and if it does not, I will carry you in my heart.”
