Roosevelt Schools Superintendent Dr. Shawn Wightman did not let an international border, months of immigration detention or a deportation order stop a graduation moment. He flew at his own expense to San Marcos, Guatemala, to personally hand a high school diploma to Alvaro Velasquez, a former Roosevelt student who missed his June 2025 graduation after months in ICE custody. The trip brought together a student and a school community that had spent months fighting to keep Velasquez’s achievement from fading into the background. Wightman said he wanted to show that removal does not erase a young person’s work.
Superintendent Took Two Flights And A Long Mountain Drive
According to ABC7 Chicago, Wightman stacked up two plane rides and a five and a half hour car trip through the foothills of Guatemala to reach Velasquez, paying for the travel himself. He told the station it was “very difficult as a superintendent, a father” to process what had happened to the student, and said he made the journey to be sure Velasquez’s hard work did not go unrecognized. Velasquez told reporters, “This is amazing for me,” adding that Wightman had stood by him throughout the ordeal.
Detained Weeks Before Walking At Graduation
As reported by ABC7 New York, Velasquez was picked up by ICE just weeks before his June 2025 graduation and transferred to a detention center in Texas. He remained there for months before agreeing to self deport. The station noted that Velasquez had arrived in the United States alone as a minor, and that his attorney said he had been pursuing legal options to remain in the country. Those circumstances left school staff and his family scrambling from a distance to find ways to honor his accomplishment.
First Attempt To Deliver Diploma Stopped At Detention Center
Local reporting by the Long Island Press shows Wightman had already tried once to give Velasquez the full graduation treatment. He previously flew to Texas carrying the student’s cap, gown, yearbook and diploma, but officials did not allow him to hand the items over inside the detention facility. The outlet reported that Wightman used his own vacation time and personal funds for that trip, and that the diploma ended up back in his office as he looked for another way to deliver it. That failed visit, officials said, highlighted how federal custody can cut off even basic school rituals.
Visit Resonates In A Majority Latino District
In Roosevelt, a district that ABC7 Chicago reports is about 65% Latino and Hispanic, Wightman’s journey landed as more than just a kind gesture. It underscored wider community worries about immigration enforcement and how it can derail students’ lives. The station also reported that, since Velasquez’s detention, three other Roosevelt students have had their lives upended by ICE actions. Educators say the case has ratcheted up anxiety among families and sparked tougher conversations about what schools can do to protect students’ access to education.
Federal Statement And A Complicated Legal Landscape
ABC7 New York also published a statement from the Department of Homeland Security saying that Alvaro Castro-Velasquez was apprehended by Border Patrol on May 6, 2022, and later arrested by ICE on June 1, describing his case as part of routine enforcement. Advocates and district leaders point to Velasquez’s Special Immigrant Juvenile status and say his situation lays bare tensions between local schools and federal immigration policy. According to those sources, legal limits on removal proceedings left Velasquez choosing voluntary departure in an effort to preserve certain future immigration options.
Superintendent Says Support Will Continue From Afar
Wightman told the Long Island Press that he intends to keep looking for ways to support Velasquez from Guatemala, including exploring potential paths that might one day allow him to return to the United States. School and community leaders say they will continue offering financial and logistical help to Velasquez’s family and to other students affected by immigration enforcement. For Roosevelt educators, the trip to hand over one diploma was a statement that achievement and recognition are shared community responsibilities, even when federal policy steps in.
