CT Officials Condemn ICE Detention of Cheshire Student

A 19-year-old Cheshire High School senior who wants to be a cardiologist is sitting in an immigration detention center in Plymouth, Mass., after federal agents took him from his front yard Monday morning. His name is Rihan. His father, an Afghan interpreter who served the U.S. Armed Forces, was held in that same facility last year.

The family came to the United States on a humanitarian visa in 2024, fleeing Taliban retaliation for the father’s work alongside American forces. A federal judge released the father, known as “Zia,” in October after concluding he was in the country legally and posed no public safety risk. Neither father nor son has a criminal history, according to officials who spoke Friday at a press conference in Cheshire.

Then ICE came back.

On Monday, agents detained Rihan as he was leaving his home with his uncle. No explanation was given, according to attorney Lauren Cundick Peterson, who represents the family and has filed a federal court petition demanding his immediate release. Peterson said she did not yet know when a judge would rule.

‘The Best of the Best’

Gov. Ned Lamont, Attorney General William Tong, and Sen. Richard Blumenthal all showed up Friday to condemn the detention. Lamont drew a sharp contrast between the Trump administration’s stated goal of deporting “the worst of the worst” and what he said is actually happening on the ground.

“He is an ‘A’ student. He loves science, wants to be a cardiologist,” Lamont said.

Not a gang member. Not someone with a record. A kid who spent four months last year watching his father fight deportation from the same Plymouth detention center where Rihan now sits, while simultaneously learning English and keeping his grades up at Cheshire High.

Blumenthal called the detention “un-American.” Tong, whose office has been aggressive in challenging federal immigration enforcement in Connecticut courts, pledged support for Peterson’s legal effort.

The family wasn’t at Friday’s press conference. Peterson said they were home, staying close, and would watch a recording later.

What This Family Actually Went Through

Peterson first met Zia and his family a few weeks after they arrived in the U.S. in 2024. They had dinner at a Turkish restaurant in West Haven. A celebration.

“At that point, we were so happy that they were at the end of their struggle, it seemed,” Peterson said. “That’s what we were celebrating: that they were finally at home here in the United States.”

In Afghanistan, humanitarian parole recipients like Zia face documented risks of Taliban violence, particularly those who aided American military and intelligence operations during the 20-year war. The family went through the lawful humanitarian parole and asylum process, cooperating at every step, officials said.

Then in July 2025, ICE picked up Zia at a routine immigration appointment in East Hartford. Four months in Plymouth. A federal judge ultimately ruled in his favor. He came home in October.

Six months later, his son is in the same building.

The Cheshire Context

Cheshire sits in New Haven County, a solidly middle-class town of about 29,000 with strong school district ratings and a population that skews toward established families. It’s not a sanctuary city. It’s not a flashpoint in the national immigration debate. Which is partly why this case has cut through locally in a way that broader policy fights sometimes don’t.

Rihan isn’t an abstraction. He’s a senior at Cheshire High, known by teachers and classmates. Speakers Friday described him as studious and well-regarded, someone who kept pushing academically through circumstances that would derail most teenagers.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention system has faced sustained criticism from civil liberties groups over the use of prolonged detention for people with no criminal history and active legal cases. Under the current administration, enforcement actions have expanded significantly, including against individuals with pending asylum claims.

Peterson’s federal petition argues for Rihan’s immediate release. The legal path his father took last year, a judge’s ruling that he was lawfully present and not a public danger, may offer a template. But that case took four months to resolve, and Rihan is 19, a senior in the final stretch of high school.

This story was first reported by CT Mirror.

Watch for a federal court ruling on Peterson’s petition. That’s the immediate pressure point. If the judge moves quickly, Rihan could be home before graduation. If not, his family faces another long wait in a situation that, by every legal measure established in his father’s case, shouldn’t be happening at all.