The American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon is calling on federal immigration authorities to release a Portland man arrested last weekend for being present in the U.S. without documentation.
The civil rights group says Francisco J. Rodriguez, 25, has had temporary legal status under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program since 2013. Rodriguez was arrested at his home early Sunday morning, Willamette Week reported. (RELATED: Deportations Rise As ICE Embarks On ‘Enforcement Surge’)
In a news release denouncing ICE’s actions, the ACLU of Oregon noted that Rodriguez was arrested for DUI in December 2016. It is unclear if the arrest caused him to be placed in a new category of illegal immigrants prioritized for deportation.
Mat dos Santos, legal director at the ACLU of Oregon, claims that ICE agents did not have an arrest warrant when they arrived to take Rodriguez into custody.
“We were shocked to learn that Francisco had been picked up this morning,” he said in a statement. “A judge had already determined that he wasn’t a danger to the community or a flight risk. So, why is ICE showing up at his house early on Sunday morning?”
ICE has not yet commented publicly on the case.
Illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as children — known as “dreamers” — can apply for relief from deportation under the DACA program, which came into effect through an executive order issued by the Obama administration. President Donald Trump has not formally terminated DACA, but a February executive order instructed the Department of Homeland Security not to “exempt classes or categories of removal aliens from potential enforcement.”
Rodriguez’s family says he enrolled in a diversion program to dismiss the DUI charges and had attended all his court dates and required meetings before being taken into custody by ICE on Sunday, local news network KATU reported.
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