Ossining High School Senior Arrested By ICE Agents Faces Deportation Friday
OSSINING, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- An Ossining High School senior who was arrested by federal immigration agents earlier this month faces deportation Friday.
In 2014, 19-year-old Diego Puma Macancela and his mother, Rosa Macancela Vazquez, came to the United States to escape gang violence, WCBS 880's Marla Diamond reported.
Now, they are being sent back to Ecuador, despite several requests for asylum filed on the teen's behalf by the Westchester County-based immigrants' rights group, Neighbors Link.
"Our country could still use its discretion to allow him to stay here, because he was someone that was clearly fearing for his life," Executive Director Carola Bracco told Diamond.
Puma Macancela was unable to attend Ossining High School's senior prom or receive his diploma.
Bracco said the case sends a chilling message to illegal immigrants.
"By going through a legal system, you might actually end up being place back in a country where you fear for your life," she said.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials previously told CBS2 Macancela Vazquez illegally crossed the Texas border three years ago, was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents and then released on supervision.
ICE said an immigration judge ordered her and her son to be deported in November.
Supporters rallied in Westchester County earlier this month, and an online petition to keep the teen in the U.S. has more than 22,500 signatures.
