RED BANK: ICE DETAINS RED BANK REGIONAL H.S. GRAD

Cesar Cuenca Rosas (center) in a photo posted to the GoFundMe page created on his behalf. ( Click to enlarge.)

A popular 2026 Red Bank Regional High School graduate remained in a Newark detention center over the weekend as the community rallied to support his family, after immigration agents arrested him on the street in Red Bank Friday, school officials and friends said.

The arrest of Cesar Cuenca Rosas, a forward on the school soccer team who graduated in June, has sparked an outpouring of support, including a fundraising campaign to help his family pay legal and other expenses stemming from his detention.

An email sent Saturday by redbankgreen to the media affairs office of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement had received no reply as of Monday morning.

The GoFundMe page launched hours after his arrest by his former teacher Serafino Mugavero has garnered hundreds of contributions from faculty, former teammates, classmates and other community members.

Former teachers and faculty described him as a smiley and respectful student who studied auto mechanics through the school’s partnership with the Monmouth County Vocational School District. He previously attended Red Bank Middle School.

“He was always ready to make people laugh, and he loved talking about fútbol, cars, and the latest chisme,” Mugavero states in the GoFundMe post. “He worked hard to balance his high school classes with vocational school coursework, all while building toward his dream of becoming a mechanic and one day owning his own business.”

Mugavero said Cuenca was in Delaney Hall, a federal detention center in Newark.

She said money raised by the GoFundMe drive would help pay for “legal representation, cover bond assistance, and care for Cesar’s high school-aged siblings during this time.”

Red Bank Regional High School District Superintendent Louis Moore said Cuenca “has a lot going for him.”

“I hope they made a mistake and he is released as soon as possible,” Moore said.

Here is a link to the GoFundMe page.

The arrest comes as immigration arrests and detentions reach all-time highs amid the continued Trump administration crackdown.

Officials have touted the enforcement effort as primarily targeting people with a criminal history, but statistics show the dragnet has increasingly targeted people believed to have civil immigration violations.

A search of state court and municipal records shows no record of any arrest, municipal court summons or traffic tickets issued to Cuenca.

His arrest was among several that occurred in Red Bank Friday, according to eyewitnesses and videos posted to social media. In October, reporting by the news website Gothamist had put the number of people arrested by ICE in Red Bank at 47 since the start of the second Trump administration.

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Editor Brian Donohue may be reached via email at [email protected] or by calling or texting 848-331-8331.