In a reversal of its prior stance, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday that the first-known "Dreamer" deported under President Donald Trump's administration did indeed have valid protective immigration status.
At 1 a.m. the night of his arrest, according to the National Immigration Law Center, Montes was deported to Mexicali, Calexico's twin city across the border in Mexico.
Announced by the Obama administration in June 2012, DACA allows eligible immigrant youth who were brought to the U.S.as children to live and work here temporarily.
In a lawsuit released Tuesday, lawyers for Juan Manuel Montes Bojorquez allege the 23-year-old was deported from California to Mexico on February 18 despite having active protection under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
DHS said they caught Montes trying to scale a border fence into Calexico, Calif. from Baja, which is illegal.
He said the government later found that his DACA status was current until 2018, but that they are withholding documents which prove his case.
Montes-Bojorquez was previously convicted of shoplifting in July 2016, however, this is not a serious enough crime to terminate his DACA status.
"I would respectfully suggest that, in this case, the facts are not completely out, so I would rather not jump to conclusions about what happened", he said. "If that were the standard, the entire 9th Circuit Court of Appeals couldn't handle a single case", she told USA Today.
Since then, at least 10 have been detained, according to United We Dream, an NGO to protect DACA beneficiaries from deportations.
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Montes's account has been disputed by the Department of Homeland Security.
"Just last month, Secretary Kelly promised me that no one with DACA would lose this protection unless they violated the terms of DACA".
Montes had lived in the United States since the age of nine and obtained de facto amnesty from an Obama-era policy which Trump has kept intact, citing his "big heart". After attempting to reenter the United States by climbing the boarder barrier, he was captured and again returned to Mexico.
Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, an outspoken proponent of stronger restrictions on immigration shared his thoughts on Montes' deportation on Twitter, toasting "Border Patrol" with a picture of a beer mug and writing "this one's for you".
Staff attorney Nora A. Preciado at the NILC added, "Juan Manuel was funneled across the border without so much as a piece of paper to explain why or how".
In addition to calling Curiel a hater, Trump heavily implied during a rally that Curiel could not be impartial in the Trump University lawsuit because he "happens to be, we believe, Mexican, which is great".
"We can't promise people who are here unlawfully that they're not going to be deported", Sessions said on Fox News.
It was reported earlier this week by USA Today that 23-year-old Juan Manuel Montes had been sent back to Mexico in February despite having DACA status, making him the first documented case of a DREAMer being deported. It grants them renewable two-year periods to stay, during which time they can study and work if they keep out of trouble. He is now in Mexico. CBP also said Montes has a theft conviction; his attorneys say he has a misdemeanor offense on his record, but that it does not disqualify him from DACA.
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