On the recordJune 9, 2016
Yesterday, Riverside High School in Durham, North Carolina, held its graduation ceremony. Among the pomp and circumstance, one student who should have graduated with his class was, sadly, absent. Wildin Acosta is a Honduran national who fled his country after the violence and threats to his life became so great that he risked everything to embark on a harrowing 17-day journey to the United States, all at the tender age of 17. He was classified as an Unaccompanied Minor and was eventually reunited with his parents in Durham, where he planted deep roots in the community and thrived at Riverside High School. Instead of graduating yesterday with his classmates, he sits in an ICE detention facility in Georgia after being arrested by ICE agents while he was on his way to school. Led by his classmates, the Durham community has been unanimous in calling for the end of recent ICE raids that have spread fear throughout our community and schools. Mr. Speaker, I, too, stand in support of Wildin, and I continue to fight for his release. I encourage my colleagues to fight with me and to implore the ICE Director and the Department of Homeland Security Secretary to use their discretion to release Wildin and others like him from detention. ____________________
