One of the first detentions of an individual covered by former President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program has reportedly happened. Daniel Ramirez Medina, a 23-year-old Mexican man brought to the U.S. illegally as a child and given a work permit under the program in 2014, was taken into custody on Friday in a Seattle raid reportedly aimed at the arrest of his father, who had already been deported once. From the New York Times:
Mr. Ramirez, who came to the United States from Mexico when he was about 7 years old, had not been charged with any crime that would jeopardize his DACA status. Lawyers and advocates said on Tuesday that before Mr. Ramirez’s case, they had not heard of any DACA permit holder in good standing who had been held in detention.
A spokeswoman for the United States attorney in Seattle said on Tuesday afternoon that the government was still reviewing the case.
A spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement late Tuesday night that Mr. Ramirez is a “self-admitted gang member” who is a “risk to public safety” and has been placed in removal proceedings in immigration court.
[Ramirez’s lawyer Mark] Rosenbaum said Mr. Ramirez was “repeatedly pressured” by immigration agents to falsely admit a gang affiliation, a charge he “unequivocally denies.”
DACA, often referred to as the “Dreamer” program, protects about 750,000 people brought illegally to the U.S. as children from deportation. In previous years, Rosenbaum of pro-bono law firm Public Counsel told the Times, DACA-covered individuals have been released quickly after arrest. Reuters reports that 680 people illegally in the country were arrested last week, a number Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly has insisted is consistent with routine operations.
