City Of New York Takes Action To Support Former Public School Student Arrested After Attending Routine Immigration Hearing

July 2, 2025

Amicus Brief Outlines City is Less Safe When Immigrants Are
Afraid to Access Basic Services and Attend Court Hearings   

Individual Had Previously Accessed City’s Asylum Application
Help Center to Apply for Asylum, Work Authorization, and TPS 

NEW YORK – The City of New York took action in support of Jose Luis — a New York City resident and former public high school student who was arrested in a Manhattan courthouse on June 2, 2025 after attending a mandatory, routine immigration hearing — by filing an amicus brief in the case of Jose Luis, vs. Anthony J. Larocco, in his official capacity as Sheriff of Nassau County; William Joyce, in his official capacity as District Director of New York, Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Kristi Noem, in her official capacity as Secretary of Homeland Security; Pam Bondi, in her official capacity as Attorney General. 

Jose Luis, a former student at Pan American High School in Queens, has no criminal history and is pursuing a pathway to a green card. Aside from attending a New York City public school, he had also previously accessed the city’s Asylum Application Help Center, which helps new arrivals apply for asylum, work authorization, and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) as they take the necessary steps toward becoming self-sufficient. 

“At a time when many immigrants in our city live in fear of being detained or deported, we are using every legal means possible to keep them safe,” said Mayor Adams. “I have always said that our immigrant New Yorkers should be able to go to court, send their children to school, seek medical care at our hospitals, and ask for help from our police officers when they are in need. That is what it means to be a safe city, and we will continue to fight to ensure that our public resources are safe, and that people who was going through the legal process that we encourage for new arrivals, are protected under the law.” 

“As detailed in our brief, creating a culture of fear around court appearances deters people from participating in judicial proceedings — and not just immigration proceedings, but all manner of court proceedings that depend on cooperation from members of the public, whatever their legal status may be,” said New York City Corporation Counsel Muriel Goode-Trufant. “These tactics undermine the public trust and violate the principles of fairness and justice. We urge the court to grant Jose’s writ of habeas corpus.”  

The brief — filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York — argues that Jose Luis is being detained without cause and in violation of his right to due process. The filing makes clear that the city is less safe when immigrants are afraid of accessing basic services and attending immigration court hearings. The filing also outlines the important contributions that immigrants have long made to New York City, specifically on its cultural fabric, economic growth, and overall prosperity. 

The amicus brief lays out the immigrant community’s — including those who are undocumented — vast contributions to the City of New York. The five boroughs is home to more than 3 million immigrants, comprising nearly 40 percent of the city’s population. Jose Luis is reportedly one of more than a dozen people led to believe that their immigration cases were being favorably resolved and then arrested either in or outside an immigration courthouse in Manhattan, a stone’s throw away from a federal district court, state criminal and civil courts, local criminal, housing, and family courts, and other courthouses. As the brief makes clear, these tactics risk driving underground those otherwise inclined to follow the country’s immigration laws, undermining the very system that those laws are designed to serve. 

Further, in the brief, the city argues that the judicial system itself will suffer if residents fear that simply appearing in court to protect their rights or the rights of others could expose them to detention and removal. 

This action follows a similar amicus brief the City of New York filed in support of Dylan Lopez Contreras, another New York City Public School student who was arrested in a Manhattan courthouse on May 21, 2025 after attending a mandatory, routine immigration hearing.  

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