The Department of Homeland Security reversed itself Wednesday saying that a young man, identified by USA TODAY as the first DREAMer to be deported by the Trump administration, had valid protective status despite its earlier claim.
On Tuesday, the department said its records showed the protective status of Juan Manuel Montes, 23, expired in 2015. On Wednesday, the department said that status was in fact valid until 2018.
Montes, who was deported from Southern California to his native Mexico in February, had been protected from deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program created by President Barack Obama for so-called DREAMers, undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children.
On Wednesday, the department said he lost that status because he left the United States without permission and was caught trying to re-enter the country. DACA enrollees must be approved to travel outside the U.S.
However, attorneys for Montes said the only reason he tried to re-enter the country is because he had been deported by Customs and Border Protection two days earlier.
"Juan Manuel has been unequivocal in his assertion that he never voluntarily left the country while he had DACA," said Nora Preciado, an attorney with the National Immigration Law Center, which is helping in Montes' lawsuit against the Trump administration. "Rather than continue to provide half-truths and varying assertions, the Department of Homeland Security should respond to our request for documentation. We will see them in court."
Montes' case has received international attention because President Trump had pledged to exempt people enrolled in the DACA program from being deported under his tougher enforcement policies toward undocumented immigrants.
...
Attorney General Jeff Sessions told Fox News earlier in the day that the federal government is not rounding up DACA enrollees for deportations, but made clear that they face the possibility.
"DACA enrollees are not being targeted. I don't know why this individual was picked up," Sessions said, referring to Montes. "The policy is that people are here unlawfully are subject to being deported. We can't promise people who are here unlawfully that they aren't going to be deported."
Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...rted-dreamer-had-protective-status/100647846/
Ooops...
Edit: Judge denigrated by Trump as 'Mexican' will hear key deportation case: http://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/20/politics/juan-manuel-montes-bojorquez-judge-curiel/index.html
On Tuesday, the department said its records showed the protective status of Juan Manuel Montes, 23, expired in 2015. On Wednesday, the department said that status was in fact valid until 2018.
Montes, who was deported from Southern California to his native Mexico in February, had been protected from deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program created by President Barack Obama for so-called DREAMers, undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children.
On Wednesday, the department said he lost that status because he left the United States without permission and was caught trying to re-enter the country. DACA enrollees must be approved to travel outside the U.S.
However, attorneys for Montes said the only reason he tried to re-enter the country is because he had been deported by Customs and Border Protection two days earlier.
"Juan Manuel has been unequivocal in his assertion that he never voluntarily left the country while he had DACA," said Nora Preciado, an attorney with the National Immigration Law Center, which is helping in Montes' lawsuit against the Trump administration. "Rather than continue to provide half-truths and varying assertions, the Department of Homeland Security should respond to our request for documentation. We will see them in court."
Montes' case has received international attention because President Trump had pledged to exempt people enrolled in the DACA program from being deported under his tougher enforcement policies toward undocumented immigrants.
...
Attorney General Jeff Sessions told Fox News earlier in the day that the federal government is not rounding up DACA enrollees for deportations, but made clear that they face the possibility.
"DACA enrollees are not being targeted. I don't know why this individual was picked up," Sessions said, referring to Montes. "The policy is that people are here unlawfully are subject to being deported. We can't promise people who are here unlawfully that they aren't going to be deported."
Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...rted-dreamer-had-protective-status/100647846/
Ooops...
Edit: Judge denigrated by Trump as 'Mexican' will hear key deportation case: http://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/20/politics/juan-manuel-montes-bojorquez-judge-curiel/index.html
