NEW YORK, NY— On November 17, 2025, U.S. District Court Judge for the Southern District of New York, Cathy Siebel, ordered the immediate release of a 16-year-old Bronx teenager from immigration detention at an Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) congregate facility. This order comes after ECBAWM filed an amicus brief on behalf of the Children’s Defense Fund; the Kairos Center for Religion, Rights, and Social Justice; EdTrust–New York; the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights; and Children’s Rights, in support of the Bronx teenager’s habeas petition.

The Bronx teenager, originally from Ecuador, was detained on October 23, 2025 during a scheduled immigration check-in at a Manhattan federal building, despite previously being granted Special Immigrant Juvenile status, a designation that provides a path to permanent residency. Before his detention, he was thriving academically at a Bronx public high school and on track to graduate.  The Door and the New York Civil Liberties Union quickly filed a habeas petition on his behalf, seeking his immediate release from detention.

The firm’s amicus brief filed in support of the habeas petition argues that the teenager’s prolonged detention is unnecessary, unjust, and poses serious risks to his mental health and education. Research cited in the filing shows that even short periods of detention can cause psychological trauma and long-term harm to children’s development.

The brief stated: “When children and young people are detained, including in ORR congregate facilities, and separated from their communities and schools, empirical research shows that such detention is deeply traumatizing and has long-term negative impacts on brain development and on that child’s trajectory through life.” The case highlights the urgent need to protect vulnerable youth from harmful detention practices and ensure they remain connected to their families and communities.

ECBAWM attorneys Katherine Rosenfeld and Nick Bourland filed the amicus brief on behalf of the five organizations.