Advocates and elected leaders are calling for the release of a Cheshire High School senior taken into ICE custody on Monday, six months after his father’s release from ICE detention.
The teen, who is only being identified by the first name Rihan at the request of his family, was detained by federal agents this week. Rihan was moved to a detention facility in Plymouth, Massachusetts, his attorney said at a Capitol press conference in Hartford on Friday.
“These are real people who are having their lives torn apart,” said immigration attorney Lauren Petersen. “There is no lawful basis for Rihan’s detention. He must be released immediately.”
ICE did not immediately return a request for comment on Rihan’s detention.
Petersen said Rihan was being held at the same detention facility at which his father, Zia, was held for nearly three months. Zia made national headlines last year when he himself was detained by ICE. Zia served as an interpreter for the U.S. military in Afghanistan and was granted entry to the country via humanitarian parole along with his family, including Rihan. A judge OK’d Zia’s release in October, saying he met the parameters to be released on bond.
Petersen said she was challenging Rihan’s detention in federal court.
She was joined at the press conference by Gov. Ned Lamont, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, state lawmakers from Cheshire, and local Cheshire elected officials, who all called for the teen’s release.
“Connecticut is standing behind this family, behind Rihan, who has been illegally detained, brutally imprisoned with no valid legal reason,” said Blumenthal.
Cheshire Board of Education Chair Samantha Rosenberg said Rihan is a hard-working student with aspirations of becoming a cardiologist.
“He is not a headline. He is not a talking point. He is a student,” Rosenberg said. “Rihan belongs in school. He belongs with his family. He deserves the opportunity to graduate with his classmates and pursue his future.”
“The family followed all the rules,” said Petersen, the family’s immigration attorney. “It's done everything right. It's our government that is not following its own rules, or claiming that the rules have changed, or maybe claiming that there are no rules at all when it comes to immigrants.”
