It was an emotional moment as 19-year-old Derlis Chusin reunited with his mother after a month in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.

Chusin cried and hugged family member after family member after weeks away.

What You Need To Know

  • It was an emotional moment as 19-year-old Derlis Chusin reunited with his mother after a month in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody

  • An 11th-grader at Grover Cleveland High School in Queens, Chusin was first detained on June 4

  • Chusin was released on a $20,000 bond that was paid in full by Envision Freedom Fund

  • Chusin and his family’s asylum case is still pending after coming from Ecuador more than a year ago

An 11th-grader at Grover Cleveland High School in Queens, Chusin was first detained on June 4.

On that day, Chusin — who is from Ecuador — had attended a routine immigration hearing and been given a follow-up court date. He thought everything was fine until ICE agents detained him.

His mother was the first to notice something was wrong. It had been three hours and Chusin was still not at their planned meeting point.

“He was then subject to detention in 26 Federal Plaza in horrible conditions for days before he was then moved to Texas, far away from his family and loved ones,” Melissa Chua, co-director of New York Legal Assistance Group’s Immigrant Protection Unit, said.

Chua was part of the legal team that secured the teen’s release on Wednesday.

They had argued the teenager be released immediately, pending his ongoing asylum case.

“The government essentially violated his due process rights by summarily detaining him without finding if he was really a danger to the community or flight risk,” Chua said.

“The amount of gratitude and relief we feel is immense. We’re so happy he’s going to be returned to his family, community, his church and his school,” she added.

Chusin was released on a $20,000 bond that was paid in full by Envision Freedom Fund. The group also helped pay for his 36-hour bus trip back to the city.

“He’s just such an amazing kid. For him to be taken like that is just devastating. And just seeing him back now is just really really incredible,” Michelle Konig, Chusin’s English teacher, said.

Konig was part of a welcome home party waiting at Port Authority on Friday that included community members, teachers and lawyers.

All Chusin and his family want now is to spend time together. The next step in the case is getting it moved back to New York from Texas.

Chusin and his family’s asylum case is still pending after coming from Ecuador more than a year ago.