LAUSD student released from immigration detention after four months

A Van Nuys high school senior in immigration detention since August has been released from federal custody.

Benjamin Marcelo Guerrero-Cruz, an 18-year-old, was detained while he walked the family dog on Aug. 8, less than a week before the start of his senior year of high school.

Rep. Luz Rivas, who represents part of the San Fernando Valley, announced on the House floor Thursday morning that Guerrero-Cruz is now back home with his family.

“My heart goes out to his family, especially his mother, who can hold her son again after months of fear and uncertainty at the hands of ICE,” Rivas said.

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The Department of Homeland Security has not responded to LAist’s repeated requests for information about Guerrero-Cruz this week, but he no longer appears in the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s online detainee locator.

Rivas said in a follow-up interview that since his release around Thanksgiving, Guerrero-Cruz has re-enrolled in school and that his immigration case is ongoing.

 ”He should be in the classroom, not the courtroom or a detention center,” Rivas said.

Detained while walking the family dog

One of Guerrero-Cruz’s neighbors, Valerie T., said she encountered four men wearing tactical vests labeled “immigration police” standing near three unmarked Black SUVs shortly after Guerrero-Cruz was detained.

Valerie, who declined to share her last name, said she asked a masked man holding the leash of a small black dog about the animal’s owner.

“The masked man unclipped the dog's collar and let it run into the streets,” she said.

Valerie joined dozens of educators and community members in August and November rallies calling for the student’s release. Supporters are raising money for Guerrero-Cruz’s family through a GoFundMe.

A photograph of Guerrero-Cruz from the a fundraising page established to support his family.

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Screenshot taken Nov. 4, 2025

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A senior Department of Homeland Security official told LAist in a statement that the Chilean teen overstayed a visa and was required to leave the U.S. in 2023.

Held at Adelanto detention facility

Lizette Becerra was one of Guerrero-Cruz’s first teachers in L.A.

“ He's super talkative,” Becerra said. “He was a Velcro kid. He could often be found in a chair right next to my desk, just talking and talking away.”

Becerra visited Guerrero-Cruz at the Adelanto immigration detention facility.

 ”Every time I talk to him, he's like, ‘Miss, I'm gonna go back to school,’” Becerra said.

She added that in the first two weeks of his detention, Guerrero-Cruz dropped 20 pounds and said there was limited access to food and showers. Multiple reports from advocates, attorneys and facility staff have found conditions in the detention center can be unsafe and unsanitary.

DHS denied Becerra’s allegations about conditions inside the detention facility.

In late August, ICE transferred Guerrero-Cruz to a facility in Arizona and did not notify his family.

Rivas introduced a bill that would require ICE to notify a detainee’s family within 24 hours of their transfer to a different facility.

“ Benjamin's mother was worried sick about him, not knowing where her young son was,” Rivas said. “No family should have to go through that.”

Fear spreads among students from immigrant families

Federal immigration agents have arrested more than 10,000 undocumented immigrants in the Los Angeles area since June, DHS said in a statement to LAist on Thursday. A recent NPR analysis of records from the Deportation Data Project found only one-third of undocumented immigrants arrested by the Trump administration have criminal records.

Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said in a statement that he was relieved to learn of Guerrero-Cruz's release.

"No child should ever experience this kind of fear or trauma, and my heart is with Benjamin and his family as they begin to heal," Carvalho said.

Guerrero-Cruz is one of at least four local students detained by immigration enforcement since June. They include a 9-year-old Torrance boy deported to Honduras and a rising L.A. senior deported to Guatemala.  

“When some students are not in school, it means that there's a disruption to their learning, but it also means there's a disruption to the learning of the entire classroom,” said UCLA education professor John Rogers.

Rogers co-authored a recent report that found high school principals are worried about President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. The administrators reported fear among students from immigrant families, leading to a rise in school absences, bullying and harassment.