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Maykol Bogoya-Duarte, an 18-year-old undocumented immigrant, had planned to return to Colombia with his mother after he graduated from Western International High School.
With roughly one semester left in school, Maykol began making arrangements to leave the U.S.
But his plans and his education were upended last month when he was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. Instead of finishing out his junior year this week, the teen is in custody of the federal government and faces an “imminent” risk of deportation, according to his attorney.
Immigration advocates are now calling on Michigan’s governor, several Democratic members of the state’s congressional delegation, and Detroit school district leaders to fight for Maykol’s release so he can complete his schooling in the U.S.
“At this time of the year, students should be focused on graduation and summer,” said Ruby Robinson, senior managing attorney with the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, who is representing Maykol. “And here we have a student on precious time who is being deported. He should be able to finish his studies.”
Maykol is only 3.5 credits away from graduating, Robinson said, and would likely be able to finish school around the end of the calendar year.
His attorney said he is asking to be released and granted a stay of deportation to see his studies through before returning to Colombia.
Maykol was arrested on May 20 after he attempted to join a school field trip to Lake Erie Metropark, about 25 miles from Detroit. While driving with three other students in the car, Maykol was pulled over for tailgating another vehicle, said Robinson.
The teen was asked to provide his driver’s license but only had a City of Detroit identification card. Michigan does not currently issue driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants.
The local police officers who pulled Maykol over could not speak Spanish and had trouble communicating with him, Robinson said, so they called Customs and Border Protection.
“An important aspect of this story is that local police, instead of relying on internal translation services, were relying on Border Patrol agents to interpret for them,” said Robinson.
The practice of calling on Border Protection for traffic stops with people who can’t speak English could be interpreted as racial profiling, the attorney said.
Randy Krause, chief of the Rockwood Police Department, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Maykol, who came to the U.S. at 16, received a final deportation order in 2024. After that, Maykol was working with ICE and the Colombian Consulate to obtain the travel documents he needed to depart the country, according to his attorney.
“We were in compliance with their order,” said Robinson, adding the documents are required in order to board an airplane out of the country. “It takes time for those documents to be generated.”
He was still in the process of arranging to return to Colombia with his mother when he was arrested. It’s unclear if he would have been able to graduate before leaving.
On Monday afternoon, Robinson and Maykol’s family didn’t know where he was. They believed he was being moved from the Chippewa County Correctional Facility to another location early Monday morning, the attorney said.
“We expect when he does reach where he will spend the night tonight, we will be able to find him, or he will be able to make a phone call to us or his mom,” said Robinson.
The attorney said because of the high number of people detained by ICE, the agency places them wherever bed space is available.
“We’re seeing people detained in far parts of Michigan,” he said. “We’re also seeing people being sent to Ohio and other places as well.”
Advocates want Michigan leaders to speak out
By Monday afternoon, nearly 900 people had signed a petition asking Michigan officials to condemn Maykol’s arrest, urge for him to be released to complete his high school education, and “to put preventative policies in place to better support immigrant students and families.”
Three advocacy groups — 482Forward, MI Students Dream, and the People’s Assembly — created the petition.
Lindsey Matson, the deputy director of 482Forward, said the advocacy effort is aimed at raising awareness of the issue and the petition, if it gains traction, will put pressure on those who have the power to intervene.
“Even a statement from the school board will be helpful,” Matson added.
The petition calls for action from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, U.S. Sens. Gary Peters and Elissa Slotkin, U.S. House Reps. Shri Thanedar and Rashida Tlaib, and the Detroit Public Schools Community District.
Thanedar, in a Monday evening post on X, formerly Twitter, responded to the detention, saying: “ICE should not be detaining high schoolers! Maykol Bogoya-Duarte just needs 3 credits to graduate, but was put in detention by ICE. He should be released immediately and allowed to get his diploma.”
Nikolai Vitti, superintendent of the district, told Chalkbeat last week that the school system’s police department had advocated on the student’s behalf.
But the district did not notify students and families of the arrest because Maykol was not “under the protection and responsibility” of the school system when ICE detained him, said Vitti.
Robinson said notification about the incident or future instances like it would provide reassurances to families about how the district responds in these situations.
“I think people are looking for something like that from the school district,” said Robinson.
In addition to advocating for Maykol’s release to allow the teen to finish school, the attorney said the district should ensure its policies and practices support the needs of community members with immigration challenges.
That includes making sure students and staff understand their rights in interactions with law enforcement, he added.
In New York, the detention of a student has gained widespread attention and calls from advocates and political leaders for his release. (A second teen has since been detained.) Similarly, the detention of a teenager in Massachusetts prompted rallies.
Less attention has been paid to Maykol’s plight in comparison.
Matson said his case isn’t less important than what has happened in the other states.
“I feel like Democrats in Michigan have not really stood up for our immigrant population here,” she said.
The advocacy groups calling for Maykol’s release are asking community members to attend the Detroit Public Schools Community District board meeting at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at Martin Luther King Jr. High School to urge school leaders to make public statements.
Immigration advocates are also encouraging community members to call the offices of state and national lawmakers, as well as ICE.
Lori Higgins is the Detroit bureau chief. You can reach her at lhiggins@chalkbeat.org.
Hannah Dellinger covers K-12 education and state education policy for Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at hdellinger@chalkbeat.org.
