The man who is a Mexican Immigrant and was brought to the U.S. illegally as a child but was protected from deportation by former President Barack Obama's administration has been taken into custody in the Seattle area in what could be the first case of its kind in the country.
Daniel Ramirez Medina, aged 23, was arrested on Friday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who went to the suburban Seattle home to arrest the man's father.
ICE spokeswoman Rose Richeson also said in a statement that the agents were there targeting a "prior-deported felon."
Ramirez, however, was brought to the U.S. from Mexico when he was 7 and has a work permit under the Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. He also has a job, a young son and no criminal record, the Northwest Immigrants Rights Project Legal Director Matt Adams said. Ramirez is being held in Tacoma.
Richeson said Ramirez to told agents he was a gang member and based on those statements and being a "risk to public safety," he was taken into the custody.
But Mark Rosenbaum, one of the Ramirez's lawyers, responded later on Tuesday that Ramirez "unequivocally denies being in a gang" and the statement which is from Richeson is inaccurate.
Adams said that Ramirez is the first person he knows of with DACA status who has been detained.
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Attorneys for Ramirez challenged his detention in the federal court of Seattle on Monday, arguing the arrest violates his constitutional rights to live and work in this country without the fear of arrest and deportation so long as he satisfies the DACA requirements
Emily Langley, a spokeswoman for the US attorney's office in Seattle, said on Tuesday afternoon it would be premature to comment on the lawsuit.
In a joint statement on Tuesday night, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray said that he stands with other City Council member Lorena Gonzalez in seeking answers about the Ramirez' arrest.
Governor Jay Inslee's office also said it has been trying to find out more information on the DACA arrest.
Statement went on to say that the Trump Administration so far has not announced any policy changes to the DACA program.
Recent sweeps by the U.S. immigration agents across multiple states have netted some immigrants with no criminal records, a departure from enforcement actions in the last decade. Under the Obama administration, agents focused more narrowly on the individuals who posed a security or public safety threat.
President Donald Trump made illegal immigration a cornerstone of his campaign, saying he will build a wall along the Mexican border and deport millions of the people, although actual plans have yet to be revealed. He has said that he wants to focus on people who have committed crimes.
During an interview with the Time magazine late last year, Trump expressed sympathy for the more than 740,000 people in the DACA program, which started in the year 2012.
By Mrudula
