DREAMer will argue for return
Judge wants to hear from Montes firsthand
A federal judge said Tuesday he was preparing to order the Trump administration to return the first known DREAMer it deported back to the United States to make his case for staying.
U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel said he needs to hear firsthand from Juan Manuel Montes, 23, to rule on the undocumented immigrant’s claim that he was deported illegally by border agents.
Lawyers for Montes say he was wrongfully removed from the country around 1 a.m. Feb. 19 because he had protection under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival program, or DACA. The Trump administration said Montes voluntarily left the country, forfeiting his protection.
“I would be inclined to direct that he be paroled into the United States,” Curiel said. “I would like to observe the demeanor of the witnesses. I would like to determine what they have to say.”
Curiel ordered the attorneys back to court Wednesday to set a schedule for a trial and to announce whether he will order the Department of Homeland Security to return Montes, who has been living with relatives in his native Mexico. He came to the USA with his family at age 9.
Curiel said the case is unlike any he had ever seen because the government has not been able to come up with any documentation of Montes’ deportation on the February night in dispute.
“I have yet to see a case similar to ours as to an individual being removed by U.S. law enforcement and there is not one piece of paper, there is not one note, there is not one iota of evidence to memorialize that an individual was removed from the United States,” Curiel said.
Justice Department attorney Aaron Goldsmith said no evidence exists of the deportation because it never happened. “We don’t have any record of this.”
Curiel oversaw lawsuits against Trump University during the presidential campaign, prompting candidate Donald Trump to label him a “hater” and question whether Curiel could be objective because of his “Mexican” heritage, although the judge was born in Indiana.
This spring, Curiel approved a settlement for President Trump to pay $25 million to end the lawsuits by students who said they were defrauded. Trump did not admit any wrongdoing.
Tuesday’s hearing coincided with a presidential trip to Arizona that included a visit to the U.S.Mexico border wall.
Montes, whose story was first reported by USA TODAY, called himself a victim of overzealous border agents who disregarded his protection from deportation under the DACA program, which was started by President Obama and continued by Trump. It grants two-year stays for undocu- mented immigrants brought to the USA before their 16th birthday who have attended school or joined the military and have not committed serious crimes.
In an earlier interview from a relative’s home in western Mexico, Montes said he was waiting for a ride outside a restaurant near the border in his hometown of Calexico, Calif., on the night of Feb. 18. A Border Patrol agent approached him, detained him and then deported him even though he was twice granted deportation protections under DACA.
Nearly 800,000 undocumented immigrants have been protected by DACA, which Trump has the power to end at any time.
“The federal government made the same promise to Juan Manuel that was made to nearly 800,000 DACA recipients across the country,” said Nora Preciado, an attorney with the National Immigration Law Center who represents Montes.
“When he was unlawfully expelled, the federal government not only broke its promise to Juan, they also violated his constitutional rights,” Preciado said.