This is a developing story, check back for updates.
Jiaye You was working on his senior thesis exhibition in class last Monday.
A week and a half later, You called his parents at 2:00 a.m. Wednesday from an Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in New Jersey to tell them he was being transferred to a detention facility in Louisiana.
You is now held at the Jackson Parish Correctional Center in Jonesboro, Louisiana, as of 11:00 a.m. Wednesday with an undetermined release date.
“At this moment, we feel helpless, anxious and deeply worried,” You’s father wrote in an email to The Spectrum.
You, a senior fine arts major, was detained by ICE officers after a routine immigration hearing last week in New York City. The reasons for the detention remain unknown.
The Spectrum was unable to reach an ICE spokesperson for comment by the time of publication.
Matt Kenyon — You’s arts professor — told The Spectrum over the phone that You was worried about the hearing when Kenyon spoke to him last Monday.
Throughout the past year, ICE officers have detained dozens of migrants after routine hearings to boost deportation numbers under the Trump administration's aggressive crackdown on immigration. Masked ICE agents often wait inside courthouses to apprehend and place immigrants in temporary and overcrowded cells until they’re transferred to a detention facility.
New York City has become a prominent hub of this tactic, resulting in volatile clashes between hundreds of protesters and ICE officers. A 20-year-old Venezuelan student enrolled in an English language program was released from ICE detention Wednesday — 10 months from his arrest after an asylum hearing May 21 which marked the first instance a NYC public school student was detained.
“You hear about this in the news, but it’s different when it happens to one of your students,” Kenyon said.
A GoFund Me page, organized by Kenyon, raised over $18,000 since its release Tuesday afternoon. The money will be put towards You’s immediate legal expenses: the bond hearing and immigration case is estimated at around $15,000 and the bond itself at $30,000.
A bond is money offered up to the federal government that can temporarily release a person from custody, acting as a guarantee that the person would attend to future court appointments.
You’s family did not disclose You’s immigration status to The Spectrum due to concerns over it potentially affecting his ongoing bond process.
Staff on behalf of Kaihsuan Ai, You’s lawyer, declined to comment to The Spectrum.
The university is aware of You’s detainment and is in contact with his family and lawyer to provide support, officials said.
“The university is hopeful this matter will be resolved quickly so Jiaye can return to the university soon to complete his studies,” said a statement emailed to The Spectrum.
Aisha Adam, president of the undergraduate Student Association, called the situation “truly disheartening” and said that she’ll be reaching out to the university to see what can be done to support You.
“Seeing as the situation is so fresh, it’s critical that we get the facts surrounding the wellbeing of our peer and friend Jiaye,” Adam wrote in a text message to The Spectrum, “SA wants to know he’s safe, how his academic studies are being affected and what UB can do to bring Jiaye home.”
You was talking about the work he left in the studio when Kenyon spoke on the phone with him Friday morning.
“I think it’s just incredibly difficult,” Kenyon told The Spectrum. “He’s a really strong kid. He’s doing as well as he could under these difficult circumstances.”
Beyonce Thomas-Reynoso is the podcast editor and can be reached beyonce.thomas@ubspectrum.com.
Mylien Lai is the senior news editor and can be reached at mylien.lai@ubspectrum.com.
Mylien Lai is the senior news editor at The Spectrum. Outside of getting lost in Buffalo, she enjoys practicing the piano and being a bean plant mom. She can be found at @my_my_my_myliennnn on Instagram.
Photo: Paul Hokanson / UB Athletics
