‘Happy to be free.’ Austin church celebrates teen’s return after weeks in ICE custody

AUSTIN (KXAN) — When 18-year-old Luis Fernando Cabrera walked into St. James’ Episcopal on Sunday, with his two-year-old nephew on his hip, church members met him at the door with long embraces. The teen had been noticeably missing from the east Austin church since the beginning of May, when a traffic stop over expired registration led to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detaining him — a moment that, up until last week, threatened to upend his quickly approaching graduation and ability to stay in the country.

After nearly a month in detention, and a federal court order demanding his release, the congregation that organized and advocated for Cabrera’s return was huddled around the teen in the middle of the sanctuary, praying over him.

“I feel happy to be here again and to be free,” Cabrera said in Spanish. “Thank you to everyone who helped me from the beginning — friends, family and people who I did not know. I am very grateful. I’d like to meet everyone.”

The Austin Independent School District senior spent 19 days detained at the Karnes County Immigration Processing Center — about an hour outside of San Antonio. It’s the same facility where an Austin ISD elementary school teacher has been detained for nine months.

A week into Cabrera’s detention, a team of lawyers filed a habeas corpus petition challenging his arrest as unlawful. Church and school leaders who have known the teen in the years since his family immigrated to the country in 2019 wrote letters of support, his classmates held small demonstrations off campus calling for his release, and reports of his detention caught the attention of U.S. Congressman Greg Casar.

Cabrera’s school district arranged for him to take his final exam inside the detention center in Karnes County in hopes that, if released, he would meet the requirements to graduate — a goal, he said at times during his detention, did not seem tangible.

“I think I did 80% well. I wasn’t able to study,” Cabrera said about taking the test at the detention center. “I thought I was going to stay in the detention facility during the graduation ceremony.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, said Cabrera and his family entered the country illegally near Eagle Pass in 2019. At the time, he was 11-years-old. Cabrera’s attorneys said his family applied for asylum and continues to go through the legal immigration process.

It was a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper, trained and authorized to detain undocumented immigrants as a part of a 287(g) agreement with the federal government, who picked up Cabrera on his way home from work and contacted ICE during the traffic stop on May 1.

ICE officials in a statement told KXAN that Cabrera “freely admitted to having no legal basis or documentation to remain in the US,” and up until last week, ICE said the teen would remain in detention pending the completion of his immigration proceedings.

Last week, U.S. District Court Judge Jason Pulliam ordered the federal government to release Cabrera, finding that the teen had no criminal history, was not a flight risk, posed no danger to the community, and had been complying with the conditions of a prior release.

Some of Cabera’s teachers at Northeast Early College High School said the high school senior was the first student they knew directly to be detained by US immigration officials, but both said they had students whose family and loved ones had been impacted by increased immigration enforcement over the last year.

Austin ISD Superintendent Matias Segura has repeatedly cited newer immigration policies as one of several reasons for the district’s declining enrollment. This year, the school district announced plans to close its International High School after its student body decreased by more than half. The school was geared towards students who were new to the country.

A KXAN analysis of ICE data also showed more than 70 minors were detained in the Austin metro area during the first nine months of President Donald Trump’s second term — a 94% increase from the last year of former President Joe Biden’s presidency. Data from the Biden and Trump administrations were provided to the Deportation Data Project as part of a Freedom of Information Act request.

In an interview with KXAN on Saturday, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn said he was not familiar with Cabera’s case, but said he trusted judges to make the right decisions in immigration related cases.

“I think, first of all, entering the country without proper authorization is a crime. It’s a misdemeanor, but it’s a crime, and so no one has the right to do that,” Cornyn said. “Starting with the people who have existing, more serious criminal records, or people with final orders of deportation, which they’re easily a half a million of in those two categories, prioritizing those makes a lot of sense to me.”

“In this case, I think we should be grateful that after several days, Luis Fernando is being released and is going to be able to have a chance to graduate,” U.S. Rep. Greg Casar said on Wednesday. “I hope that there is a trend from our judiciary of reading these petitions and letting young people out, and everyday people out that pose zero threat to anyone. Get them out of these detention centers.”

Video from Wednesday shows Cabrera reuniting with his sister and nephew on the same day the judge’s order to release the teen was filed. Cabera said he was flooded with emotions on the drive to see them for the first time in nearly a month. The next day, he went back to school — posing for pictures with his soccer buddies at Northeast Early College High School. The teen said he’s still shocked that people he didn’t know are now aware of who he is and his case.

“I really missed them, honestly,” Cabrera said. “I feel this experience was not a good one, but I know I will be setting an example for other students or other immigrants in this country, because I want to serve as a reminder that it’s not always a bad thing, but with faith in God, we can keep moving forward,” Cabrera said.