The Trump administration has been harassing Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient Daniel Ramirez Medina for over a year now, not only falsely claiming that he’s a gang member, but also using that lie to justify ending his protections. Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez handed Ramirez Medina a victory, after ordering the federal government to quit doing both while he finalizes his case:
Ramirez, 25, came to the U.S. at age 10. He drew international attention when the government revoked his DACA status early last year and placed him in deportation proceedings, even though he has no criminal record and three times passed background checks to participate in the program.
Ramirez Medina was finally released after six weeks, but not before his protections were revoked—according to his attorney, ICE doctored a document to make it look like he was in a gang, calling it “one of the most serious examples of governmental misconduct that I have come across in my 40 years of practice.” Ramirez Medina eventually won his DACA back, but the administration again drummed up the fake allegations to try and revoke it yet again. “That bothered Martinez”:
“Most troubling to the court, is the continued assertion that Mr. Ramirez is gang-affiliated, despite providing no evidence,” the judge wrote. “For these reasons, the court finds that defendants’ continued assertion that plaintiff is a gang member or gang-affiliated is arbitrary and capricious.”
He ordered the government to cease “asserting, adopting, or relying in any proceedings on any statement or record made as of this date purporting to allege or establish that Mr. Ramirez is a gang member, gang affiliated, or a threat to public safety.”
The government was also ordered to leave Ramirez Medina’s DACA protections alone as the case moves along. “Citizenship and Immigration Services did not immediately return an email seeking comment,” reports the AP.
While the news is good news for Ramirez Medina, it’s no guarantee he’ll be able to stay in the U.S.:
An immigration judge in January found that Ramirez did not have gang ties, but ordered him deported anyway because he was in the country illegally and lacked DACA status, since it had been revoked. Ramirez has appealed that decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals.
Martinez’s ruling has no direct effect on the immigration case, but it gives his lawyers ammunition to argue that he should not be deported, Bach said.
“We’re very grateful,” he said. “It’s an unqualified win for Daniel and the rule of law.”
Due to his valid protections at the time, Ramirez Medina should never have been targeted for arrest or deportation in the first place, but he was swept up in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid that was targeting his dad. He should never have been in this situation, but ICE put him in it. Now, he’s at the mercy of the courts:
Nathaniel Bach, one of Ramirez’s attorneys, said the ruling means the government has to stop lying about his client and continue to grant him DACA status — both of which greatly improve his chances of remaining in the country.
It’s yet another case that shows that the need to pass permanent protections for undocumented immigrant youth remains as urgent as ever. It’s not just Ramirez Medina who’s depending on legislation like the DREAM Act, either:
Ramirez, who has a 4-year-old son who is a U.S. citizen, told The Associated Press after a hearing this month that he has been working as a field hand in California vineyards since regaining his DACA status and work authorization.