SEATTLE — A federal magistrate declined Friday to immediately release a man arrested by immigration agents last week despite his participation in a federal program to protect those brought to the U.S. illegally.
Magistrate Judge James Donohue said in U.S. District Court in Seattle that Daniel Ramirez Medina must request a bond hearing from a federal immigration judge and should receive it within a week.
While Donohue deferred to the immigration judge over custody, he said the case would return to his court on the issue of whether the federal court has jurisdiction to hear Ramirez’s claims that his detention violated his rights.
The judge also said he recognized the unusual nature of the case and that many people in similar situations want answers.
The U.S. Justice Department argued that there was “no legal basis for a district court to consider any challenge” to the detention of Ramirez, 23, while his case is pending in immigration court.
“We’re hopeful the immigration judge will recognize there’s no reason to keep Mr. Ramirez,” Theodore Boutrous, one of his attorneys, said outside the courthouse after Friday’s hearing.
Ramirez is being held at a federal detention center in Tacoma.
His attorneys said the bond hearing will deal only with the question of Ramirez’s immediate release. They said they eventually want to get the court to develop standards to protect others under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
“This case is about more than Mr. Ramirez. We want to get him out of detention and protect his rights. But this could affect hundreds of thousands of people, and the judge recognized today that this case is important beyond this case,” he added.
Ramirez, the father of a 3-year-old boy, was arrested last week, thrusting him into a national debate over the immigration priorities of President Donald Trump.
Some saw the detention as an attack on former President Barack Obama’s DACA program, while federal authorities suggested it was simply a routine exercise of their authority.
Dozens of people demonstrated in his support outside the courthouse before and after Friday’s hearing. Signs included “Free Daniel” and “No Deportations: Not 1 More.”
But Ramirez attorney Mark Rosenbaum assured those benefiting from the DACA program that “there’s no need to panic today.”
“There’s no reason to think this manner will not be resolved properly,” he added. “We are frustrated that (Ramirez) remains in detention for even a single hour more, but DACA is still the law, it’s still on the books.”
Court documents filed by the government said Ramirez admitted to having gang ties when questioned by an immigration agent. His lawyers called the allegation false and said the federal government has failed to show proof of that statement.
The court documents also said Ramirez had a “gang tattoo” on his forearm, but Rosenbaum said the agents misidentified it. He said it reads “La Paz BCS.” La Paz means “Peace” in Spanish and is also the capital of the Mexican state of Baja California Sur, where Ramirez was born, he said.
Ramirez’s 3-year-old son is a U.S. citizen, his lawyers have said. He worked picking fruit in California before moving to Washington, and he twice passed background checks to participate in the DACA program — most recently, last spring, they said.
DACA — called the “Dreamers” program by supporters and “illegal amnesty” by critics — has protected about 750,000 immigrants since its inception in 2012. It allows young people who were brought into the country illegally as children to stay and obtain work permits. About 1,500 of those people have had DACA status revoked because of criminal convictions or gang affiliations.
