Wilber Urbina Garcia graduated with high honors in South Los Angeles on June 9—then was detained by ICE the next day at a routine check-in. His family says he was separated from his asylum-seeking mother, despite work permits and approved stays, and lawyers ar
When Wilber Urbina Garcia walked across the stage at Jordan High School on June 9, his family was already thinking about the next step. He’d been the first in his family to graduate, and he had a list of things he wanted to do the morning after the ceremony—before summer really began.
He planned to pick up his diploma, return a high school textbook, and register for fall classes at El Camino College. But those plans were delayed that morning by a required check-in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The family of five left their South Los Angeles home before sunrise and arrived at the federal courthouse ahead of an 8 a.m. appointment. That evening, they came home without Wilber. Immigration agents had taken him into custody.
“All he wanted was to learn, but all of his dreams just came crashing down,” said Winston Garcia, one of Wilber’s older brothers. “We don’t know what’s going to happen to him. We don’t know if he’ll get out, or when.”
Wilber’s family insists the detention is not what it expected. They say the appointments had become routine since they entered the country from Nicaragua seeking asylum in late 2022, and that they had work permits and permission to stay while their asylum case moved forward.
Wilber, now 18, was a student who—according to teachers—had grown into leadership roles during his senior year. His teachers rushed to write character references after learning he was detained. They described him as shy but headstrong, extremely disciplined, and dedicated to his studies. The references say he could present projects in English. and that he enjoyed vintage video games he collected with his oldest brother. He was also learning how to play baseball with friends. On weekend mornings. he’d wake his mother with freshly made gallo pinto—fried rice and red beans served with scrambled eggs and sweet plantains—then make sure his schoolwork was finished before anything else.
His mother. Yadira Garcia. said the family found opportunities in Los Angeles that they said they could never imagine in Nicaragua. She works at a stable, well-paying packaging center. She said she no longer has to worry that a paycheck will not be enough to put food on the table. and that she doesn’t have to fear Nicaragua’s government would target her children as they get older.
Wilber’s asylum case, however, appears to have run into the complicated boundary between a child’s status and the moment a person becomes an adult for immigration purposes.
Wilber’s lawyer. Armineh Ebrahimian. said the family was granted work permits and allowed to stay in the country while pursuing asylum. She said she and her client declined to provide details about the persecution they say they fled from the government of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega. out of fear of retaliation.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said Wilber was released into the country through “the Biden administration’s disastrous parole program … despite having no legal status to be here.” The spokesperson added: “If a person enters our country illegally. they are subject to detention or deportation. ” and that “each illegal alien receives due process.”.
Ebrahimian argues the detention should not have severed Wilber from his mother’s case. She said Wilber was treated as a “derivative” of Yadira’s asylum case because he was under 21 when the application was submitted. In her view, turning 18 does not change that tie.
A Los Angeles immigration lawyer. Edgardo Quintanilla. agreed that a child should remain tied to a parent’s asylum case while they are designated a derivative when the application is filed. But he also said that after the child turns 21. people can “simply drift in the system. ” without a direct asylum case to their name.
The Department of Homeland Security spokesperson confirmed that, while a child attached to a parent’s immigration case does not lose the claim upon turning 18, a pending asylum application does not confer legal status.
The day Wilber was detained, Yadira said agents directed him into an empty interview room. She said she wasn’t told why, and after hours of waiting an agent finally told her that Wilber had been detained.
Wilber had turned 18 in August, the agent told her, and was now considered an adult no longer covered by his mother’s asylum case. “I’ve tried so hard to do everything right,” Yadira said. “I follow all the rules. I haven’t missed a single appointment. I don’t know why they did this to us.”
Ebrahimian said ICE agents should never have separated Wilber from his family. She also said Wilber’s case is unusual in her experience. and that she has pleaded with ICE to release him. She submitted seven letters from teachers and counselors. describing Wilber as a student who had flourished in school and was preparing for college.
The family’s sense of stability. they said. had been reinforced by the way their check-ins had worked for a long time. Yadira said ICE check-ins were typically biannual but became more frequent—once a month starting this year—under a broader shift in immigration enforcement. She described it as a crackdown that has included aggressive raids in Los Angeles and across the country. alongside tactics that include restricting asylum applications and detaining people who show up for routine check-ins.
Still, she said the Garcias weren’t alarmed. They had submitted paperwork and attended every appointment on time. The family was scheduled for another check-in on June 10.
Yadira said the agent turned to her daughter, Yuneisi, who is set to turn 18 in a couple weeks, and told her she would be next.
After Wilber was taken into the interview room alone, he sent a quick text to Winston letting him know he had been separated from their mother. Winston, 30, had been waiting outside. Winston is married to a U.S. citizen and had become a legal resident.
At around 10 a.m. the next morning, Winston’s phone finally rang. The caller ID said “Prison.” Wilber’s message came through in a squeaky voice barely audible amid static. He said: “They took me.” The call dropped after about 10 seconds.
Winston immediately rushed to visit Wilber at the courthouse. They spoke for about 10 minutes. As Wilber was being ushered out by an agent. he turned back to Winston and asked him to remember something small and exact—his diploma. “Please, remember to pick up my diploma,” Wilber said. He paused before adding that Winston would have to contact Wilber’s college. telling them he would not be able to attend.
Wilber spends most days at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, his family said. They described him as being surrounded by detainees much older than him, spending long stretches in tears.
Ebrahimian said it will likely be weeks before she can schedule a hearing and try to get him out on bond.
Winston said he has nightmares about the treatment his youngest brother is being subjected to—whether he has food, and whether the facility provided an asthma inhaler.
For Yadira and Winston, the legal next steps are also heavy. Ebrahimian said the two are now in removal proceedings and will have to fight their case in immigration court. She said both have been fitted with ankle monitors. Yadira worries she’ll lose her job because she has had to take off many days from work to attend scheduled ICE check-ins and at-home visits. The family said they have dozens of check-in appointments and at-home visits planned for the next couple of months.
In the family living room. the cap and gown Wilber wore hang on the wall next to a Virgin Mary altar. Wilber and his sister had spent days decorating the cap. bedazzling the bottom half in blue and white gems—the colors of the Nicaraguan flag. They debated what quote to add. and chose one that now feels like both a celebration and a question about what happened to the future they were building.
The gold lettering reads, “Gracias Dios por este logro — Thank you, God, for this accomplishment.”
ICE detention Wilber Urbina Garcia Jordan High School Jordan High graduation El Camino College asylum seekers Nicaragua South Los Angeles Adelanto ICE Processing Center immigration check-ins removal proceedings