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According to USA Today, twenty-three-year-old Juan Manuel Montes became the first Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)-protected individual to be deported under the new administration.
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Montes, who had been in the U.S. since he was nine years old, received deportation protections twice and currently has a DACA status that is valid through 2018, according to his attorney. The DACA program was created by former U.S. President Barack Obama and left intact by current President Donald Trump.
Though the Trump Administration has followed through on his campaign promise to crack down on illegal immigration, he declined to revoke the DACA protections granted to more than 750,000 undocumented immigrants by the previous administration. There are an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. However, under the new policies enacted by Trump's executive orders, the criteria for border protection agents to detain and deport undocumented immigrants have expanded significantly.
Montes was reportedly a farm worker who was enrolled in welding classes at a Southern California community college. He took special education classes in order to finish high school, after being faced with learning disabilities from a brain injury he suffered as a child.
"There I worked and studied at the same time. I only had six more months to finish (my studies)," he said. "I liked it there more than here."
He was allegedly waiting for a ride when he was approached and questioned by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer. Montes, who could not produce identification to corroborate his DACA status, was said to have left his wallet in a friend's car. Montes added that he was prevented from retrieving his documents and was instead sent back to Mexico within three hours. "Some people told me that they were going to deport me; others said nothing would happen," Montes told USA TODAY from his aunt and uncle's home in western Mexico.
He had minor run-ins with the law, including one for shoplifting and three for driving without a license. According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, these convictions do not disqualify him from DACA protections. "They detained me, they took me to a center, they asked me a lot of questions, and I signed a lot of papers," he said. Montes added that he could not understand anything he was signing and was not given any copies. Officers, he said, then walked him to the U.S.-Mexico border and released him into Mexicali.
DACA protected individuals are being targeted by immigration authorities, according to United We Dream — an advocacy organization made up of DACA enrollees and other young immigrants. The group stated that at least 10 such persons are currently in federal custody. The organization's advocacy director, Greisa Martinez said Montes' case is proof that people like herself are at risk despite what Trump said. "We've seen Trump and (Department of Homeland Security Secretary) John Kelly say, 'The DACA program is alive and well.' We've seen (House Speaker) Paul Ryan look straight into the eyes of one of our members and say, 'You have nothing to worry about,'" she added. "And then this happens."
Customs and Border Protection said it could not discuss Montes' case because of their privacy policy. After USA TODAY published the story, the Department of Homeland Security — which initially declined to comment — said it could not confirm details of Montes' deportation. Spokeswoman Jenny Burke said the department had no record of him renewing his DACA status after it expired in 2015, only a record of him being caught climbing the wall on Feb. 19.
A group of attorneys filed a lawsuit in federal court in California, requesting that a judge force CBP to release details of the agent's encounter with Montes. Executive Director of the National Immigration Law Center Marielena Hincapie said the organization has requested information for months but did not get a response.
Before his deportation, Montes lived with his mother and a younger brother, who was born in the U.S.
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