CPS student speaks out after reuniting with mother in Chicago after both were detained by ICE

CHICAGO (WLS) -- ABC7 is hearing from the Chicago Public Schools student recently released from ICE custody.

Ricardo Hernandez Navarrete, 18, and his mother, Liliana Navarrete, were both arrested by ICE in March during a scheduled check-in for their asylum case. They were reunited Tuesday after Ricardo Hernandez Navarrete was released from federal custody in Kentucky.

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Besides his high school graduation on Thursday, the one thing Hernandez was looking forward to the most was getting back to playing soccer. On Wednesday, he got to do just that, and he was on the field taking part in a five-on-five tournament.

Hernandez walked onto the Futsal Court at Mather Park for the first time in months. The 18-year-old was reunited with his family Tuesday evening after more than two months in ICE detention in Kentucky. He is now looking forward to getting back to what he loves most: Soccer.

"I am so happy to be free and to be with my family, and now I get to play, which is what I'm most excited about," he said in Spanish.

Speaking to ABC7 in Spanish following a day-long appointment with ICE following his release, Hernandez showed us the wrist monitor he was placed on while his asylum case moves forward.

"We had a standard check-in with ICE which is common when people are released from detention on their own recognizance," immigration attorney Kelli Fennell said. "So we are just following steps and continuing to do everything the right way."

Hernandez was detained, along with his mother Liliana Navarrete, during a routine immigration hearing back in March. The family applied for asylum upon their arrival from Colombia in 2022. They are legally allowed to remain in the country while their case moves forward. Liliana Navarrete was released from ICE custody last week. But Hernandez, who was assigned to a different judge, only got his day in court Tuesday, just two days shy of his high school graduation.

"I am going to invite some friends over to celebrate. And spend time with those who stuck by my during this whole ordeal," Hernandez said.

Hernandez will graduate from Mather High School on Thursday. He is already committed to play soccer at Truman College next year, but that is all dependent on his asylum petition being approved. That hearing was originally scheduled for July 14. However, his attorney expects that date to be moved.