Nelbi Chun de Leon should be counting down the days to his high school graduation. Instead, the Guatemalan senior from Cincinnati is sitting in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, waiting to find out if he will be released in time to walk across the stage on May 19.
School staff say he pulled off a heavy lift this year, completing both his junior and senior coursework in a single academic year. Friends and teachers describe a kid who talks about starting a small business once he has that diploma in hand. What should have been a victory lap has turned into a tense, day-by-day wait for classmates and educators who are watching the calendar as closely as he is.
According to The Cincinnati Enquirer, Nelbi had planned to cross the stage with his class at the May 19 ceremony. The Enquirer reports he compressed two years of high school into one, with plans to open a small business after graduation. That May 12 article remains the primary public account of his detention.
Nelbi's situation is not happening in a vacuum. Cincinnati has seen similar cases in recent months. Attorneys confirmed that 19-year-old Emerson Colindres, a recent Dater High School graduate, was deported after being taken into custody during a routine ICE check-in in June 2025. That move sparked protests outside Butler County Jail and drew widespread local coverage from FOX19. Episodes like these have galvanized immigrant-rights groups and local attorneys, who say they are seeing more young people caught up in the system.
Legal and local implications
Advocates say detentions tied to what are supposed to be routine ICE check-ins have cranked up anxiety among immigrant families and students across the region. National watchdog reporting indicates ICE has been expanding detention capacity and that transfers and in-custody deaths have drawn renewed scrutiny of the agency, according to WOLA.
For relatives and friends trying to locate or assist someone in ICE custody, the federal government has laid out some basic steps. The official guide explains how to search the Online Detainee Locator System, track immigration court status and navigate other parts of the process through official channels, per USA.gov.
What supporters are doing
In cases like these, families and community advocates often scramble on several fronts at once: lining up legal representation, organizing public pressure campaigns and connecting with nonprofits that specialize in immigration work. In the Colindres case, attorneys and Catholic Charities pushed for information about his location while supporters gathered outside the Butler County facility, WVXU reported.
For Nelbi, the clock is ticking. There are fewer than two weeks before the May 19 graduation ceremony, and local advocates are watching closely to see whether he will be allowed to join his classmates for what is supposed to be a once-in-a-lifetime milestone.
As first reported by The Cincinnati Enquirer on May 12, Nelbi's case is evolving quickly. This story will be updated as new information becomes available.
