A high school senior’s detainment has galvanized a Westchester village as immigration officers appear to be ramping up their operations there.
Rafael Antonio Morales, 18, a native of El Salvador and senior at Port Chester High School, was arrested in Port Chester on Oct. 27, 2025, but his detainment was publicized earlier this year through a GoFundMe campaign that has amassed thousands of dollars to help the family afford legal representation.
According to Morales’ lawyer, Lee Koch of Manhattan-based Koch Law, Morales said he was helping a friend move into an area apartment when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raided the complex and detained him, along with 10 to 14 other people.
This raid is one of several recent ICE raids in the area, and federal officials have provided scant explanation for arrests to local officials or advocates, leaving the community with more questions than answers about ICE’s operations. Advocates say sporadic sightings of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in town and word of arrests has left many afraid to leave their homes.
Within the week of the raid, Morales was at the River Detention Facility in Ferriday, Louisiana, where he now faces an order of deportation, according to his mother, who preferred to withhold her name from publication in The Journal News/lohud over concerns about retribution.
His mother said she crossed the U.S. border through Mexico in 2009 and traveled to New York without Morales, who was a toddler at the time. In 2023, he did the same and joined her in New York, starting as a sophomore at Port Chester High School that year. He was preparing to graduate high school this coming June, she said. The Port Chester School District did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this story via phone and email.
Morales’ mother said that his run-in with ICE in October was not his first interaction with immigration officials — he was detained during his first year in the U.S., but was brought back to his home in Port Chester, she said. That interaction led to the scheduling of a Dec. 16, 2025 immigration appointment, where Morales planned to apply for permanent residence.
But he missed the appointment because he was in detention, his mother said. According to state records, Morales has no criminal charges against him.
Morales’ mother explained that her son doesn’t have much family left in El Salvador to return to, should he be deported. She told The Journal News/lohud that Morales’ biological father died on January 27.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to The Journal News/lohud’s questions about Morales’ case and immigration status.
GoFundMe raises over $8,000
A family friend jumped into action to try to keep Morales with his family in the U.S., raising over $8,000 through GoFundMe as of Wednesday, Feb. 4, to help the family with legal fees for representation in court.
“Rafael is sweet and timid, but very determined. He has worked hard to adapt to a new country and has become a valued member of the school community,” the GoFundMe read. The friend declined to comment publicly for this story.
Port Chester teen could have a chance to stay in U.S.
The family has been down a difficult road with potential legal counsel — Morales’ mother said an initial partnership with a legal representative fell through, and a second attorney turned out to be a fraudster who took $3,200 from the family, she said.
Morales’ mother was eventually able to secure a legitimate lawyer in Koch of Koch Law, to represent her son in immigration court — but time wasn’t on their side. A court order required Morales’ removal on Dec. 22.
A hearing was scheduled for Friday, Jan. 23, and Morales was not called to appear, said Koch, who was not present at the hearing. Koch said he had no information about Morales’ next hearing.
Koch said he informed the family that their best option was to appeal the order of deportation, a move Morales’ mother was able to fund using the money raised by the GoFundMe. A notice of appeal was received by the court last week, Koch said.
He noted two possible pathways for Morales to remain in the U.S.: Through that appeal, or an application for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status.
According to the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status “provides a pathway to a green card for young people who have been abandoned, abused or neglected by a parent.”
“Abandoned, abused or neglected” are legal terms that have different definitions in each state. This could include a child in a single parent household, like Morales.
SIJS status allows the federal government to relinquish its jurisdiction over whether an immigrant under the age of 21 should stay, and allows a family court judge to determine if remaining in the U.S. is of the best interest of the child, Koch said.
Morales was ‘a model student’
New York State Sen. Shelley Mayer, whose district represents a wide swath of Westchester County, called Morales a “model student” and “dedicated employee” at his job.
“His detention is deeply troubling and fundamentally unjust,” Mayer said, adding that it appeared Morales was “questioned about his immigration status without cause” based on his appearance.
Mayer said she stood united with U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer and his office in their commitment to do everything in their power to challenge and appeal Morales’s deportation order. Schumer’s office didn’t immediately respond for comment for this story.
“Rafael deserves due process, dignity, and the opportunity to continue building the future he has worked so hard to earn,” she said.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Support surges for Port Chester high school student detained by ICE
Reporting by Alexandra Rivera, Rockland/Westchester Journal News / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
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