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Chicago — Just a fewer days ago, 18-year-old Ricardo Hernandez-Navarrete was stuck successful an migration detention halfway successful Kentucky, fearing his dreams of playing nonrecreational shot would beryllium derailed by the specter of deportation
On Thursday evening, Hernandez-Navarrete was backmost successful Chicago to receive his precocious schoolhouse diploma, aft being unexpectedly released by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
"Good, excited," Hernandez-Navarrete told CBS News erstwhile asked however helium felt moments aft graduation.
The Colombian-born teen had spent implicit 2 months successful ICE custody, aft being arrested, alongside his mother, successful March during what they expected would beryllium a regular migration assignment successful Chicago. Being of ineligible age, helium was separated from his parent and shuffled by ICE crossed the country, held successful detention facilities successful Indiana, Kansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Ohio and Kentucky.
In his archetypal nationalist tv interview, Hernandez-Navarrete said his detention was "hard to understand."
"I couldn't play soccer," helium said. "That's the astir important happening successful my life."
Ricardo Hernandez-Navarrete
CBS News
Not being capable to spot oregon speech to his parent for weeks, helium added, was besides painful.
"I had ne'er been separated from him for truthful long," his mother, Martha Liliana Navarrete, told CBS News successful Spanish.
ICE released her past week, aft a judge's order. She said she disquieted her lad would beryllium deported without her, dooming her imagination of seeing him playing for a nonrecreational shot nine successful the U.S.
Hernandez-Navarrete was released by ICE connected Tuesday, conscionable 2 days earlier his graduation. It's unclear wherefore ICE ordered his release, since an migration justice denied him enslaved that aforesaid day, according to Hernandez-Navarrete's lawyer.
But the precocious schoolhouse postgraduate said he's conscionable blessed to beryllium backmost successful Chicago, with his family, friends and teammates, who had been urging ICE to merchandise him for weeks. He said he's already committed to playing shot for Truman College successful Chicago.
Despite their release, Hernandez-Navarrete and his parent inactive look the anticipation of deportation. In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said the household entered the U.S. illegally successful 2022, erstwhile Hernandez-Navarrete was 15. The bureau said the teen would person "full owed process."
The U.S. migration tribunal strategy volition present adjudicate whether the household should beryllium allowed to enactment successful the state legally and permanently, their lawyer, Kelli Fennel, told CBS News.
In the meantime, Hernandez-Navarrete was instructed to cheque successful with ICE each 2 weeks, and was fitted with a ticker helium cannot region truthful the bureau tin way his movements. He besides has to taxable photos of himself each time and alert ICE if plans to question distant from the region.
Hernandez-Navarrete's precocious schoolhouse coach, Enrique Cervantes, said his erstwhile subordinate is intelligibly not 1 of the unsafe criminals the Trump medication routinely cites erstwhile justifying its assertive deportation crackdown.
Hernandez-Navarrete, Cervantes added, is "someone who's going to school, working, trying to amended themselves and trying to spot a aboriginal astatine the collegiate level."
"Ricardo does not acceptable the statement of the 'worst of the worst,'" helium said.
Asked what helium would archer U.S. authorities officials to person them to fto him enactment successful the state legally, Hernandez-Navarrete said they should see the information helium lacks a transgression record, arsenic good arsenic his ambitions.
"They tin spot that I've been successful precocious school, I graduate(d) and I'm going to beryllium successful college," helium said. "So I'm doing the close things. So possibly for that, I tin get the accidental to beryllium here."
Deanna Marie Lowe contributed to this report.
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Chicago teen connected ICE detention successful 6 states
Chicago teen detained by ICE, taken to 6 states, describes arrest: "They didn't archer maine why"
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