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New Haven teen detained for 3 months gets asylum, released

NEW HAVEN — A Guatemalan teenager living in New Haven has been released from custody after being granted asylum by a Boston immigration judge. 18-year-old...
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NEW HAVEN — A Guatemalan teenager living in New Haven has been released from custody after being granted asylum by a Boston immigration judge.

18-year-old Mario Aguilar has been detained by authorities for more than three months. Aguilar was a Wilbur Cross High School student.

Aguila has now returned home.

Aguilar came to the U.S. from Guatemala in 2018 to flee threats from gangs that tried to recruit him, his lawyers said. ICE took Aguilar into custody at Milford Superior Court in September when he showed up for a court date to answer to six motor vehicle charges. He was arrested for DUI in West Haven after crashing an unregistered, uninsured car and leaving the accident scene while driving with no license.

“The judge did find that [Aguilar] had been persecuted in Guatemala and that he had a well-founded fear of being persecuted if he went back there, so so gave him asylum,” Dalia Fuleihan, Aguilar’s attorney said.

The Department of Homeland Security has 30 days to appeal the judge’s decision.

FOX61 reached out to West Haven Police and ICE for comment on Aguilar being granted asylum but received no response.

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