National Guard members stand behind Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and fellow governors as they hold a press conference along the Rio Grande at the U.S.-Mexico border to discuss Operation Lone Star and border concerns on Sunday, February 4, 2024 in Eagle Pass, TX.Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographerHouston-area Democrats are outraged over the recent deportation of a high school senior who was detained for nearly four months after a routine check-in with immigration officials.But top Texas Republicans remain silent on the teenager’s deportation, even as more voters have soured on President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement.Article continues below this adMauro Yosueth Henriquez, 18, was deported to his native Honduras earlier this week after spending nearly four months at various ICE detention facilities. His arrest sparked a large protest in February outside Sam Houston Math, Science and Technology Center in north Houston, where he was co-captain of the varsity soccer team. Yosueth Henriquez had no criminal record.Houston City Council Member Mario Castillo, who attended the rally in February, said his deportation signaled that the Trump administration’s immigration policies extended far beyond the “worst of the worst” criminals that Trump promised to remove from the country.“If following the law and doing things the correct way isn’t enough to protect someone, then what does that say about the system we claim to uphold?” Castillo said. “We’re not talking about a criminal. He is a student, a leader and a Houstonian."Article continues below this adU.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, visited Yosueth Henriquez when he was detained at a facility in Livingston in February. She blasted the deportation as a “disgrace” and as evidence the Trump administration isn’t focusing its resources on convicted criminals.“Mauro is a student, a leader in his school and a young man with no criminal record who should be with his family, not torn from the community he calls home,” Garcia said. “He is not the ‘worst of the worst’ this administration claims to target. This administration is not making us safer. It is ripping apart families.”Many Texas Republicans have backed the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, but GOP leaders didn’t respond to questions about Yosueth Henriquez’s deportation. The Houston Chronicle contacted the offices of Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, and U.S. Reps. Dan Crenshaw and Monica De La Cruz to gauge their reactions to the deportation of the teenager. None responded.Article continues below this adYosueth-Henriquez’s deportation comes as national polling shows a growing number of voters disapprove of the president’s approach to tackling immigration. A Reuters poll released in February showed that fewer than 40% of respondents approved of the administration’s immigration policy, down from about 50% within the first months of Trump's return to the White House.In Texas, about 45% of respondents to a December poll believed the administration’s enforcement of immigration laws had gone too far, according to a statewide survey by the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin. That’s compared to 25% who said enforcement had been “about right” and 23% who thought it hadn’t gone far enough.Mauro is one of nearly 4,000 immigrant students that HISD has lost since 2024-25, according to this year’s state enrollment data. Classmates and experts said students are staying home from school due to fears over immigration enforcement, cutting them off from their education and future careers.Article continues below this adMauro's classmates told the Chronicle that his detention deepened concerns many students were already feeling. Teammates pledged to dedicate their season to their co-captain, and coach Miguel Gusart delayed a soccer awards ceremony in hopes that he’d be released. Just before his deportation, students launched a letter-writing campaign, pleading with elected officials to help secure his release.At HISD’s board of managers meeting Thursday, some elected trustees called on the district to award Yosueth Henriquez his high school diploma.“I am heartbroken for Mauro and his family, which has now been separated by the inhumane policies of the current administration that don’t respect our fundamental rights,” said state Rep. Armando Walle, whose district includes Yosueth Henriquez’s high school.Article continues below this ad“To his classmates that have been rallying to support him … I am proud of you. Don’t lose hope,” the lawmaker added. “We will continue to fight for Mauro and for our neighbors and loved ones who have been unjustly torn from our communities.”April 10, 2026Houston ISD ReporterClaire Partain is a Houston ISD reporter for the Houston Chronicle covering student achievement and the lead writer for the weekly Report Card newsletter. She can be reached at claire.partain@houstonchronicle.com. She got her start as sports editor at Texas State University (go ‘Cats!) before covering professional soccer team Austin FC and other Austin news at digital startup Austonia. Claire has also freelanced with her hometown paper, appearing in the Fairfield Recorder, Teague Chronicle and Corsicana Daily Sun.Immigration ReporterJulián Aguilar is an immigration reporter for the Houston Chronicle. An El Paso native, Aguilar’s journalism career began in 2007 at the Laredo Morning Times. He joined the Texas Tribune in 2009 and extensively reported on immigration, border security and the drug trade for the nonprofit news organization until 2021. His stories on immigration took him from El Paso to border towns in the Rio Grande Valley. Aguilar was part of a team of Tribune journalists who wrote a series of stories about “the reality and the rhetoric” about immigration in Texas. He journeyed by raft with smugglers who ferry people from Guatemala to Mexico, and rode with police officers patrolling the gang-controlled streets of El Salvador. After leaving the Tribune, Aguilar worked at KERA News from 2022 to 2024, then became a freelance reporter. He attended the University of Texas and earned his master's degree in journalism at the University of North Texas.