A Chicago high school soccer star reunited with his team on Wednesday after weeks in immigration custody.
After weeks of anguish, Ricardo Hernandez-Navarrete was especially grateful to step on the field Wednesday for a highly anticipated intramural soccer tournament to close out the school year at Mather High School.
“It’s so beautiful, so beautiful. I’m happy to be here,” said Hernandez-Navarrete, who is committed to playing soccer at Truman College this fall.
The 18-year-old Chicago Public Schools student and his mother Liliana were taken into ICE custody in March after they were detained during a routine check-in tied to their family’s asylum case.
“We knew he had a hearing Tuesday, so some of the students were like, ‘hey can we save him a spot on the team?’ and I’m like, I’m not going to say no,” Navarrete’s coach, Enrique Cervantes, said.
A judge in Kentucky granted Hernandez-Navarrete bond this week and he was back on the soccer field by Wednesday. His mother was granted bond last Tuesday and released shortly after.
While both Hernandez-Navarrete and his mother were released from detention, their legal battle is not over as they still need to appear before an immigration judge as their asylum case moves forward. Originally from Colombia, their family has been living in the United States for three years and applied for asylum after fleeing Colombia out of concerns for their safety.
“It was unbelievable to know he would be here and play. Obviously, his teammates were all excited,” Cervantes said.
His release comes amid stricter enforcement efforts now requiring asylum seekers to pay an asylum application fee or risk rejection of their pending applications.
Every year a person’s application is pending—which can span several years—they’re obligated to pay the annual asylum fee, explained Chicago attorney Enrique Espinoza.
“In some instances, it’s a tool to dismiss cases for a technicality,” Espinoza said.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will begin rejecting pending applications for those who fail to pay the annual fees on Friday.
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