Mother of Dylan Contreras attends State of the Union as guest of Senator Chuck Schumer

A Bronx mother whose 21-year-old son has spent nearly nine months in ICE detention was U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer’s guest at the Feb. 24 State of the Union address by President Donald Trump.

Raiza Contreras’s son, Venezuelan-born Dylan Lopez Contreras, was the first NYC public school student to be detained in Trump’s immigration crackdown. According to attorneys, Dylan came to the United States legally, applied for asylum, followed all applicable laws, had no criminal record, and was attending Ellis Preparatory Academy in Marble Hill.

Nonetheless, ICE agents detained Dylan last May after a routine court hearing. He is still held at an ICE detention facility in Pennsylvania.

In a video posted to X, Raiza Contreras thanked Schumer for the opportunity to speak on behalf of Dylan and the many families in the same position.  “I am the silenced voice of my son,” she said. “For me, it’s a kidnapping. My son is doing everything right, and they didn’t care.”

Dylan entered legally, followed the law, showed up to his court hearing—he was still detained.

Raiza, his mother and my SOTU guest, shared the nightmare her family has endured since.

While Trump lies, thousands of families are living with the consequences of ICE’s cruelty. pic.twitter.com/3sMB17JYCZ

— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) February 25, 2026

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Schumer, along with other Democrats, has blasted the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and pushed for reforms to rein in enforcement.

Trump’s speech, which lasted nearly two hours, came amid low approval ratings, with 59% disapproving of his handling of the economy, according to recent polling. In the address, Trump touted major stock market gains and lowered inflation on certain items such as chicken, automobiles and eggs.

But the message did not land with Democrats, who said their party has led the way on lowering the cost of living.

“Is the president working to make life more affordable for you and your family? We all know the answer is no,” said Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, who delivered the rebuttal as the state’s first female governor having flipped the seat from red to blue in November.

After the State of the Union, Schumer renamed the speech “Trump’s State of Delusion” and said on MS NOW that it was “an utter failure.”

“It was a lot of hype, a lot of fluff. But when you’re having a rough time paying the bills, and you hear your President mocking you for that, you get angry,” Schumer said. “He is in such a bubble, he is not talking about what the American people care about.

A number of Democrats, including Congress Member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who represents parts of the Bronx and Queens, boycotted the speech entirely.

Ritchie Torres attended with his guest Reverend John Udo-Okon, a South Bronx pastor and community advocate who runs a food pantry that often sees community members lined up at 3 or 4 a.m. — drawing attention to economic struggles that Trump has repeatedly dismissed.

Locally, State Senator Luis Sepúlveda of the Bronx blasted Trump’s speech and issued a lengthy statement calling it “a national embarrassment.”

He said Trump did not use the occasion to unite the country but instead “deepened divisions, distorted facts and avoided the true priorities of the American people.”

Sepúlveda said he was especially concerned about Trump’s characterization of immigrant communities as criminals, which amounted to “using fear as a political tool.”

“The American people deserve transparency, honesty and real solutions, not partisan applause lines. My commitment remains with the truth, with the dignity of our immigrant communities, and with policies that respond to the realities of working familes,” Sepúlveda said.

Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!