Maykol Bogoya Duarte was behind the wheel of a 2008 Chevy SUV, headed to Lake Erie Metropark for a school field trip. Three other students from Western International High School were in the vehicle with him. They never made it to the park.
What should have been an ordinary end-of-year outing on May 20 turned into a crisis. A Rockwood police officer accused Maykol of tailgating. The officer later claimed the vehicle was following “at an unsafe distance,” slowed down, then sped up again before being pulled over near Truman Road. According to the police report, the officer said Maykol spoke “in broken English,” shared that he didn’t have a driver’s license, and noted that the other students in the car also lacked one. Rather than request a translator or follow department procedures for traffic stops, the officer contacted U.S. Border Patrol. Minutes later, the high school student was taken into federal custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Maykol, who is 18 and just three credits away from graduation, is now facing deportation from a jail cell in Louisiana.
Since that day, public pressure has been building across Detroit. At the June Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) board meeting, more than 100 community members showed up demanding the district speak out. Many were from Southwest Detroit, home to large immigrant families and a long history of organizing against federal immigration enforcement.
Maykol’s mother sat silently in the auditorium, listening through an interpreter as residents called for action. Students, educators, parents, and advocates filled the room not for ceremony, but accountability. They didn’t want delay. They wanted DPSCD to protect its own.
“This is a student,” one speaker said. “A kid who should be thinking about prom or his final report card. Instead, he’s being held in a facility hundreds of miles away. That can’t be ignored.”
Organizers with 482Forward, a Detroit-based education advocacy nonprofit, launched a petition demanding Maykol’s release and calling on Michigan’s elected leaders to publicly denounce the detention. As of June 10, more than 1,300 people had signed. The petition reads:
“Governor (Gretchen) Whitmer, Senator (Elissa) Slotkin, Senator (Gary) Peters, Representative (Shri) Thanedar, Representative (Rashida) Tlaib, and Detroit Public Schools — We are asking you to publicly condemn the detention of one of your students, to support his request to be released in order to finish his high school education, and to put preventative policies in place to better support immigrant students and families.”
U.S. Representative Shri Thanedar, whose district includes Southwest Detroit, issued a statement on June 9: “ICE should not be detaining high schoolers! Maykol Bogoya-Duarte just needs 3 credits to graduate, but was put in detention by ICE. He should be released immediately and allowed to get his diploma.”
U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib added on Facebook: “He does not deserve to be separated from his family or community,” urging the public to contact ICE directly and reiterating her call to abolish the agency altogether.
On the same day, state Senators Stephanie Chang, Mary Cavanagh, Sylvia Santana, and Rosemary Bayer issued a joint statement: “We join over a thousand teachers, students and parents calling on ICE to release Maykol from detention so that he can return to his family, even temporarily, and finish his schooling. Amidst the chaos and fear of the Trump administration’s mass deportation effort, we must remember that behind every number, there are real human beings impacted — not just the individuals detained or deported, but also their families and their community members.”
Inside the board meeting, tension was high. Lindsey Matson, deputy director of 482Forward, challenged the board directly: “What we want to see is for this district, for the board, to stand up in the same ways that we’ve seen board members stand up in New York and Massachusetts, in places where we’ve seen other students detained.”
Another speaker issued a sharper warning: “It has never worked to cower in the face of fascism.”
Initially, some board members hesitated. DPSCD board member Sherry Gay-Dagnogo expressed concern about the district drawing unwanted federal attention. “We are cautious in not bringing unnecessary attention that will prevent us moving smoothly in having this issue addressed,” she said.
That response did not satisfy many in the room. Several speakers accused the board of hiding behind political caution and federal funding fears instead of showing leadership. While the district has long claimed “sanctuary” status, residents questioned how far that protection really extends—and whether it means anything off school property.
Detroit Public Schools Community District is one of many across the country that have adopted sanctuary school policies. These policies are designed to keep ICE off school grounds, restrict the sharing of student information with immigration authorities, and ensure staff are trained to protect undocumented students from surveillance or questioning.
But as Maykol’s situation shows, those policies stop at the curb.
Sanctuary protections don’t extend to the parkway, the bus route, or a field trip car. In this case, a traffic stop was enough to open the door to federal detention. The officer didn’t reach for an interpreter. He reached for Border Patrol. That choice shifted a minor infraction into a deportation case—and exposed a flaw in how sanctuary is practiced versus how it’s understood.
ICE claims to avoid enforcement in “sensitive locations,” including schools. But that’s policy, not law. And once ICE has a student in custody, even if the arrest was unjustified, school districts have no legal power to demand release. That makes public pressure essential.
Earlier this year, Superintendent Nikolai Vitti spoke at an NAACP event during Black History Month and acknowledged ICE activity near schools has made some students afraid to attend class. He shared that the district has provided online alternatives for families concerned about surveillance and said staff work to keep ICE off campus. Still, the current situation has reignited concerns about how DPSCD applies its sanctuary protections.
As pressure mounted, the board entered a closed session. When they returned, President Bishop Corletta J. Vaughn read a formal statement on behalf of the district, co-signed by Vice President Iris Taylor McClendon:
“The Detroit Public Schools Community District Board of Education stands firmly with our community in demanding the immediate stay of deportation for our student, Maykol Bogoya Duarte. Maykol is part of our DPSCD family, and we are heartbroken by the fear and disruption this situation has caused his loved ones, classmates, and school community. We call for the immediate release of Maykol and request a formal stay of his deportation. We want him to complete his coursework and graduate with his high school diploma—just as he has worked hard to do. We will also continue to keep in touch with the family and keep the school community updated.”
Applause followed the announcement. But organizers say a statement isn’t enough. They want to see next steps—legal support, policy reinforcement, and stronger protection measures for immigrant families moving forward.
What happened to Maykol wasn’t theoretical. It happened in real time, to a real student, in a district that promises protection. And it happened under the authority of a local police officer who chose federal immigration enforcement over public safety tools like interpretation or mediation.
This case also raises concerns for broader community-police relationships. Advocates warn that when officers choose Border Patrol over translation, they erode trust in law enforcement. Victims and witnesses become less likely to cooperate when they fear immigration consequences for even minor interactions.
For now, Maykol remains detained. He is still three credits away from graduation. His future is unclear. The response to his detention has drawn together a community of teachers, peers, lawmakers, and neighbors. What they want is not complicated. They want him home. They want him to graduate. And they want better protections in place so this doesn’t happen again.
DPSCD says it will keep the community informed. The community, in turn, says it will keep showing up.
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