Students Rally In San Francisco For Afghan Teen Detained By ICE
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) -- Bay Area high school students on Friday rallied around a teenager seeking asylum from the Taliban who has been in federal ICE custody for six months.
The teen from Afghanistan has a shot at a new life in the United States after San Francisco students and activists posted his bond.
High school students and immigrant rights activists came to the immigration and customs office to deliver a $25,000 check, a bond for the 17-year-old boy named Hamid.
Since we're like the same age as him, we're really supporting him... continuing with his case, said student Kaytlen Ramirez.
The boy's attorney Mariel Villarreal says he is wrongly being held at an adult facility because of a faulty dental exam. Six months ago, he turned himself in at the U.S.-Mexico border, seeking asylum from the Taliban.
Violence against his family; his brother and father were killed in Afghanistan. And he's also received death threats himself, Villarreal.
June Jordan School for Equity left an open chair at their graduation on Tuesday. Some of the students went to visit the boy in a Bakersfield detention center the day before.
It was a very emotional moment. You can see that he's scared being in there. he's really not doing anything, said Ramirez.
Their $25,000 bond, raised through community organizations, is offering some hope in what they say is an unfair system.
This is just one case. And we know there are thousands of cases just like this that have astronomical amounts that the community simply cannot pay, said Edwin Carmona-Cruz with Pangea Legal Services.
Once he is released, Hamid's case goes before a federal immigration court in San Francisco. There is no timeline on when the case will be heard as of yet.
However, Hamid is expected to be released from custody by the end of the day. ICE officials had no comment on his case.