Federal judge orders immediate release of Memphis high school student detained by ICE
Yasser Jose Lopez Soza, a junior at Memphis Business Academy, was detained by ICE on Feb. 20, 2026. (Image Courtesy of Lopez Soza Family)
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Chalkbeat Tennessee
Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.
The 18-year-old Memphis Business Academy student was released Friday afternoon. He’d been held in ICE detention since his arrest on the way to a school soccer game.
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Yasser Jose Lopez SozaIn partnership with
Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.
Bri Hatch
Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Hatch spent the past two years in Baltimore covering all-things education for WYPR, the city’s local NPR station, as a Report for America Corps Member.
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