Diego Puma: ICE denies New York teen's asylum request

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — Federal immigration officials have nixed a New York high school student's bid to remain in the U.S. long enough to earn his diploma, his lawyers said Wednesday.

Diego Ismael Puma Macancela, 19, will now remain in custody pending deportation proceedings after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials alleged that he was involved in gang activity in his native Ecuador.

Puma Macancela's attorneys counter that the Ossining High School senior and his mother, who were arrested by ICE agents in the town last week, are seeking asylum in the U.S. because he was fleeing those same gangs.

“ICE has denied his stay of removal, and the basis for this denial is that they are accusing Diego of participating in a gang that he was actually fleeing from," said Carola Bracco, executive director of Neighbor's Link, a Mount Kisco immigrants rights group that is representing the teenager.

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"It’s not uncommon for youngsters or teens who are seeking asylum to be doing so based on fear of gang violence," Bracco said. "In his asylum application, Diego, at the time he was 16 years old, revealed the lengths to which he went to avoid gang violence in Ecuador, eventually leading to his escape to the United States.” 

But the decision leaves Puma Macancela few options.

"As a legal matter, there are no barriers to his deportation from the United States," said Karin Anderson, lead attorney for Neighbor's Link. "This process can take anywhere from a couple of weeks or a couple of months, and throughout this process Diego will remain in detention."

Officials at ICE have not returned calls and emails for comment on the case. 

The case has stirred a firestorm in the Lower Hudson Valley. An online petition in support of Puma Macancela had collected nearly 20,000 signatures by Wednesday.

The teenager and his mother crossed the U.S. border into Texas in 2014 and were arrested. They were allowed to remain while their case was heard.

"They crossed the border in Texas and were released," Bracco said. "They did file for asylum and in November 2016 their applications were denied and they were ordered deported."

ICE agents carried out the deportation order last week, when they arrested Puma Macancela's mother on Wednesday and the teenager the following day.

On Monday, dozens of supporters rallied outside the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in Manhattan, calling for Puma Macancela to be released, at least long enough to finish school.

Later that day, lawyers for Neighbors Link and the New York Immigration Coalition filed a petition to allow Puma Macancela to remain for at least a year.

That request was denied Wednesday morning by the ICE Office of Enforcement and Removal Operations, the teen's lawyers said.

"Diego, like many children, was resisting recruitment and fleeing the gang and this is all too common," said Anderson, the Neighbors Link attorney. " I think he’ll face the same danger he faced that was the basis for him coming. And I think that’s terrifying.” 

Follow Jorge Fitz-Gibbon Twitter: @jfitzgibbon