Ecuadorian-born high school student released from U.S. detention conditions his attorney calls ‘brutal’

A Queens high school student has been reunited with his family in New York after being detained by federal immigration officials since June.

Derlis Chusin spent more than a month in ICE detention and was reunited with his family Friday when he arrived back in New York at the Port Authority.

The case has been closely followed by the media since Chusin entered the U.S. under asylum immigration rules that changed after his arrival.

“He was in a detention facility as a teenager with adults in his bunk. He had limited food options, limited access to us. It’s essentially being in prison,” NYLAG attorney Lauren Rave said.

Chusin came to the U.S. from Ecuador last year and was finishing the 11th grade in June when he was taken into custody by federal immigration agents at his asylum hearing in a Manhattan immigration court.

“Derlis, like many people were allowed into the United States legally to seek asylum,” attorney Melissa Chua said. “And on the day he went to immigration court to litigate his case, he was detained without any notice, without any process and then separated from his family and moved.”

The Trump administration has been routinely arresting immigrants at their court hearing since this spring.

The same thing happened to another New York high school student named Dylan, who has been in ICE custody since May.

A senior Department of Homeland Security official called, “Derlis Chusin Toaquiza, an illegal alien who entered the country under the previous U.S. administration in March of 2024. The official said that the rules for asylum applications have changed under the new government.