NEW YORK — Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos joined immigration advocates on Thursday to demand federal authorities release Dylan, a Bronx high school student detained in an immigration courthouse.

Dylan, 20, an asylum seeker from Venezuela and a student at ELLIS Preparatory Academy, was arrested at a routine court hearing last week after the government moved to dismiss his case. Dylan’s last name has been withheld at his family’s request through their lawyers.

In the week since, Dylan has been shuttled between detention centers in Pennsylvania, Texas, Louisiana and New Jersey — complicating efforts to connect with his legal team and receive medical care. He has not been accused of any crime and entered the country legally through a Biden-era asylum process, which has since been rejected by the Trump administration.

“Our hearts go out to the student, Dylan, who was detained by ICE,” Aviles-Ramos told hundreds of protesters on the steps of Tweed Courthouse, the public school system’s headquarters in lower Manhattan. “We are deeply saddened for his family.”

The chancellor’s brief statement marked the strongest opposition yet from the Adams administration after the mayor earlier this week attempted to distance himself from ICE’s actions, which he and Aviles-Ramos both stressed did not take place at a public school. Local elected officials, however, urged Mayor Eric Adams to make his own public plea for Dylan’s release.

“I understand the limited role we have locally on immigration. But Mayor — no, Deputy President Eric Adams, all I want you to do is be as vocal about immigration issues as you were under Biden,” said Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.

Zachary Nosanchuk, a spokesman for the mayor, said the chancellor’s remarks speak for the entire administration.

At the event, Dylan received a flood of support from politicians, local teachers and faculty unions, and public school parents — who attested to his character as a hard-worker, father figure to his two younger siblings, and immigrant who legally sought asylum. They chanted to “Free Dylan” and carried signs calling on the federal government to keep their hands off of students and children.

“When the Trump administration tells you that they are only going after criminals, know that that is a flat-out lie: Dylan wasn’t detained to make our communities safer,” said Rep. Nydia Velázquez, D-N.Y. “Dylan was detained to send the message that no location is safe, even in a state like New York where we have laws that are supposed to protect people from ICE arrests at courthouses.”

Councilwoman Rita Joseph, D-Brooklyn, chair of the education committee, added: “He did everything right.”

“He showed up a routine immigration check-in,” Joseph said. “And for that, he was taken, detained, stripped from his life, his school, from his community — all for daring to follow the process.”

The rally was the second in almost as many days where local schools stood up against Trump’s immigration policies and their impact on education. On Tuesday, about 500 high school students walked out of class to protest federal actions that they said made their immigrant classmates feel unsafe.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security earlier this week condemned Biden’s decision to let immigrants into the country with a notice to appear before a judge. The federal government said ICE is now following the law and placing Dylan and others in expedited removal proceedings, as officials claim they always should have been.

“If individuals have a valid credible fear claim, they will continue in immigration proceedings, but if no valid claim is found, aliens will be subject to a swift deportation,” the agency said in a statement.

Dylan’s detention has also drawn the condemnation of New York’s governor, who at an unrelated press conference Thursday in Hell’s Kitchen made a distinction between assisting in the removal of people who have been accused of crimes and separating families.

“I will continue to work with ICE in those circumstances where they present a warrant for arrest — always have, always will,” Gov. Hochul said. “But short of that? Leave our families alone. Let our students get the education — especially those who are trying to follow the law, presenting themselves at an immigration center, following the rules.”

Dylan’s mom, Raiza, watched a livestream of the rally out of fear for her safety. Through an advocate, she thanked the crowd for their love and outpouring of support.

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(With Evan Simko-Bednarski.)

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