Leonardo Santiago Soto Uribe, right, and his father, left, pose for a photo. Credit: Instagram / @joaquincastro

U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, is calling for the release and reunification of another San Antonio youth detained by federal officials as part of the Trump administration’s sweeping anti-immigrant crackdown.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested 13-year-old Leonardo Santiago “Santi” Soto Uribe and his father, Benjamin Lerma-Huipio, in June just outside of San Antonio, Castro said in a statement. The youth, a 9th grader, is being held in child welfare center in San Antonio, while his father is locked away at the T. Don Hutto Detention Facility in Taylor, according to the congressman’s office.

“Yesterday, ICE said he could go home. Santi went to bed last night thinking he was going to be with his mom in the morning. But ICE pulled the rug from under him — preventing him from returning home where he belongs.” Castro said in a statement. “He hasn’t showered and has only been given cookies and juice.”

Castro’s office added that the 13-year-old’s father has been living in the United States since 2005 and was working as a roofer and “building a life” at the time of their arrest.

“My office has been working around the clock to get Santi released,” Castro said. “We won’t stop until they’re home.”

The detention is only the latest ICE arrest of a San Antonio-area youth that Castro has worked to resolve in recent weeks.

Earlier this month, the congressman’s office successfully secured the release of a Churchill High School student who was detained by ICE while en route to a soccer game. Last month, the office also worked to ensure the release of an Alamo Heights family taken by ICE while waiting at a school bus stop near their home.

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