Gina Vega wipes tears from her eyes and she pleads for the return of her beloved son detained by ICE.
Photo by Dean Moses
Gina Vega sat weeping in the living room of her basement apartment in Queens. It was eerily empty and quiet; the sound of her teenage son within its walls had vanished after he was detained by ICE last year, leaving her alone with her own despair.
The Ecuadorian mother wiped away tears from her eyes as she thought of her 18-year-old boy, whom she has not seen in more than two months. Despite the overwhelming sense of anguish, she is fighting for his release from an immigration detention center in Virginia.
Jorge David Delgado Videla was detained on Nov. 5 inside 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan, after arriving with his mother for what they believed to be a routine ICE check-in on the fifth floor.
“They told me to take Jorge’s things and go,” Vega recalled. “I haven’t seen him since then. They said to be grateful they weren’t detaining me, too.”
While homeland security officials continue to claim that ICE is apprehending “the worst of the worst,” meaning violent criminals, Videla has only one misdemeanor arrest to his name.
Videla was arrested by the NYPD in August after he got into an argument with a man in the Flushing train station. According to Vega, the stranger began yelling at Videla, and they got into a verbal confrontation.
Although the fight never got physical, the pair were arrested and charged with menacing, a misdemeanor offense. It was only months later when ICE sent a letter demanding that he appear at the fateful check-in.
Detained Queens teen’s mom: ‘He is not meant to be locked up’
Vega escorted Videla inside 26 Federal Plaza when an ICE agent suddenly pointed to the student and took him to another room, where they announced they would be taking fingerprints and photographs. It would be the last time she saw him.
The female ICE agent then returned with Videla’s belt and headphones and said they would call her later. ICE agents then confiscated her passport as well, without explanation.
Both Vega and her son had applied for asylum in the United States after escaping a threat from an Ecuadorian gang, “Los choneros or Aguilas,” that had unsuccessfully tried to recruit the teenager two years prior. Videla’s friends lost their lives to the same gang. He had been attending the Pan American International High School and had been scheduled to graduate in July 2026.
That same afternoon of his detention, Vega received a call from her son confirming what she feared: that ICE was holding him against his will indefinitely. With a friend’s help, she later learned that her son had been transferred out of the Big Apple to another detention center in Virginia.
Videla’s detainment on the fifth floor comes after amNewYork made a special report last year, outlining the rise of immigrant arrests in that particular area of 26 Federal Plaza. Access is restricted on the fifth floor, with all detainment activity taking place out of sight of the press and the public.
According to Vega, Videla is now being held in a cell with people much older than him, despite only being 18 years old. Detention officials allow him limited recreational time and access to a gym, but he refuses most meals and eats only instant noodles that the center’s staff provides.
“He cries. He says he is not meant to be locked up; he is not a criminal. He asks why they keep him locked up,” Vega said, sharing what she has learned through the infrequent calls with her son.
Since his detainment, ICE offered him a “voluntary departure” to Mexico even though he is of Ecuadorian descent and has no ties to Mexico. A court hearing is scheduled for Jan. 20, at which it will be determined whether he will face deportation.
Other family members also spoke to amNewYork in defense of the young man.
Jorge’s aunt, Yadira, describes her nephew as a calm, respectful person who always helps others. She also railed that the detention has been horrific for his mother since he is also the breadwinner for the family.
“It’s very hard for his mother,” Yadira said. “She’s depressed because he is her only companion here. Every day we pray for strength – that he can stay here and start his life again.”
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