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ICE deported Axel Rios, an 18-year-old Dunwoody High School student, to Honduras after denying a stay of removal

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported Axel Rios, an 18-year-old Dunwoody High School student, to Honduras on April 30, 2026, after detaining him in March following a traffic stop in DeKalb County, Georgia. Rios's attorney had filed to reopen his 2015 asylum case, but ICE denied a stay of removal and carried out the deportation while that request was pending.

Jurisdiction
Federal
Location
Dunwoody, Georgia

Abuses documented

Actors

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported Axel Rios, an 18-year-old student at Dunwoody High School in DeKalb County, Georgia, to Honduras on April 30, 2026. Rios had been taken into ICE custody in March 2026 after a traffic stop, and was held at the Folkston ICE Processing Center in southeastern Georgia. His attorney had filed paperwork to reopen his 2015 asylum case in an effort to keep him in the United States, and characterized the deportation order as equivalent to a death sentence.

ICE denied a stay of removal and proceeded with the deportation while the motion to reopen the asylum case was still pending, removing Rios from the country before that request could be resolved.

Why we recorded this

Due process in immigration enforcement requires that a person be allowed to pursue available legal relief before the government carries out an irreversible removal. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported 18-year-old high school student Axel Rios to Honduras after denying a stay of removal while his attorney's motion to reopen his 2015 asylum case was still pending. Executing the deportation before that request could be adjudicated foreclosed the review the process was meant to provide.

Sources

  1. Dunwoody High student in ICE custody deported to Honduras — Atlanta News First investigative accessed July 14, 2026
  2. Dunwoody High School student deported by ICE after traffic stop last month — 11Alive (WXIA) investigative accessed July 14, 2026
  3. Why a Dunwoody traffic stop could lead to teen's deportation — FOX 5 Atlanta secondary accessed July 14, 2026

See also