Senator Stephanie Chang

Stephanie Chang is with State Representative Stephanie A. Young and 12 others.

1 day ago

Today, a group of Michigan elected officials sent a letter to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Field Directors in Michigan and Texas urging ICE to release four Western International High School students and their families: Kerly Mariangel Sosa Rivero and her father Gleiner Jose Sosa Mujica; Antony Janier Peña Sosa and his mother Maryeli Antonieta Sosa Marquina; Mor Ba; and Santiago Jesus Zamora Perez and his mother Evelin Josefina Perez.

These young people and their parents arrived in the United States from Venezuela or Senegal and all have pending asylum cases. The students are all following the immigration process and not a risk to public safety.

Kerly is 16 years old and is in 11th grade. She is passionate about music, loves alternative indie rock, works at Chili’s and plays volleyball. Antony, Kerly’s cousin, is also 16 years old and is in the 10th grade. Very intelligent and soft-spoken, he is friendly and academically ambitious, playing the violin and excelling in an Advanced Placement art class. He also works at Chili’s and is rapidly learning English. ICE detained Kerly, Gleiner, Antony, and Maryeli at their home in Detroit on November 20, 2025 without a warrant. Kerly, Gleiner, Antony and Maryeli are all currently being held at Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas.

Mor Ba is 19 years old and a recent graduate of Western International High School. He arrived in the United States from Senegal at the age of 17 and has a pending asylum application. He has a 3.12 GPA and was ranked 5th in his class. Mor was pulled over on November 26, 2025, by unmarked vehicles. He is currently detained at the North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, Michigan.

Santiago is 17 years old and is in the 11th grade. He has excellent grades and is a star baseball player, with dreams of playing in college. Santiago and his mother were detained by Fraser Police Department on December 7, 2025 after driving under the speed limit, with the police then alerting immigration enforcement officials. They are currently being held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas, despite a Temporary Restraining Order issued by a federal judge.

“The abduction of these students is unconscionable,” said Senator Erika Geiss (D-Taylor). “ICE is separating good, hardworking people from their homes, their schools, and their workplace. These students and their families came to this country to seek a better life and instead are the victims of political violence at the hands of an indiscriminating agency that is abusing its power. I swiftly urge their release and return to their homes in our community.”

“These Detroit students should be in their classrooms, not torn from their community,” said Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (MI-12). “It is cruel and unacceptable for ICE to traumatize young people and their families who came here seeking a better life and an opportunity to thrive. I am demanding their immediate release. Our children deserve safety, human dignity, the love of their families, and the freedom to pursue their dreams without being terrorized by a system that treats them as disposable. Detroit will always stand with our immigrant neighbors, and we will not stop fighting until these students and their parents are brought home.”

“Kerly, Antony, Mor, and Santiago, along with their parents, are simply following the legal process and trying to gain asylum as they seek a better life in Detroit,” said Sen. Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit). “ICE should immediately return these high school students and their parents home to Detroit so they can continue to learn, work and grow without the fear and violence they fled. Immigrants and asylum seekers are deserving of safety and dignity.”

“Students - in Detroit and all across this country - belong in their classrooms with their friends, not in detention centers thousands of miles away,” said Detroit City Councilmember Gabriela Santiago Romero (District 6). “As a proud immigrant who has called Detroit home since I was two years old, I am heartbroken and outraged by these actions and the harm they inflict on young people who came here seeking safety and protection. ICE must release them immediately to keep families together, while allowing them to pursue their education as their legal, asylum process is pursued. Detroiters will not look away while our children are abducted. We stand with our students and the immigrant families who make our city strong.”

“These students should be home for the holidays with their families, focused on school and their futures, not separated and detained far from their communities through enforcement actions that traumatize young people, lack transparency and basic due process,” said Sen. Mary Cavanagh (D-Redford). “As Chair of the Michigan Latino Caucus, I am deeply troubled by the harm these actions cause, not just to immigrant families, but to all of us. When anyone can be taken without clear justification or safeguards, it weakens all of our rights and sets a dangerous precedent that threatens the safety, rights, and dignity of all Michiganders.”

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