SEATTLE - A man who was brought to the U.S. illegally as a child but was protected from deportation by the Obama 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, 23, was arrested last Friday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
Civil rights attorneys have now filed a federal lawsuit, challenging what they call the "unconstitutional detention" of Ramirez Medina.
Related: Complaint on Dreamer arrest
According to court documents, ICE agents went to a Seattle area home to arrest his father. The younger Ramirez Medina was also at the home.
His attorneys say that ICE agents asked their client whether he was in the U.S. legally. He told them "Yes, I have a work permit."
Court documents say the ICE agents responded by saying, "It doesn't matter because you weren't born in this country."
Ramirez Medina has a work permit under Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA).
The program provides a reprieve from deportation as well as renewable work permits to eligible immigrant youth who came to the United States illegally when they were just children. Roughly 750,000 young people, often referred to as "Dreamers," are DACA recipients.
Court documents say the application process to become a DACA recipient includes a thorough background check in which the Department of Homeland Security must make sure the applicant has no serious criminal history and does not pose a threat to public safety.
Ramirez Medina's attorneys say he went through that strict screening on more than one occasion over the years.
"Our country made a promise to these young people that by coming forward and following the rules, those who have grown up with America as their home would not be deported to a country that is unfamiliar to them," said Luis Cortes, who is one of the attorneys representing Ramirez Medina. "The administration has indicated its willingness to find solutions that don't renege on that promise. It's important to remember that the legal status of DACA recipients hasn't changed."
But attorneys say ICE agents completely ignored Ramirez Medina's DACA status when took him into custody. He's being held at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, awaiting removal proceedings before an immigration judge.
Protestors gathered outside the detention center Tuesday evening, demanding Ramirez Medina be released.
"He told them he was a DACA recipient and they said it doesn't matter," said Rolando Avila, who helped organize the protest. "They said we're going to take you anyway. So we're here in solidarity, and we demand he be released, because he is someone that is valuable in this community. We are seeing this across the country, attacks on immigrants, and we don't want to stand idle."
An attorney with the Northwest Immigrant Rights Projects, one of many co-counsels on Ramirez Medina's case, told KING 5 he hopes it was all a big misunderstanding and that the young man was taken into custody by mistake.
A spokesperson for ICE tells a different story.
"Ramirez Medina is 'a self-admitted gang member,'" Rose Richeson, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson, said in a statement. "He was taken into custody based on his gang affiliation and 'risk to public safety.'"
Mark Rosenbaum, Ramirez Medina's attorney, said Richeson's statement was "inaccurate" and that Ramirez Medina "unequivocally denies being in a gang."
"While in custody, he was repeatedly pressured by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to falsely admit affiliation," Rosenbaum wrote in a statement.
Attorneys said in their court filing that there was no probable cause for his arrest, and they believe Ramirez Medina has not committed any crime.
VIDEO: protest happening now at Northwest Detention Center, after 23 yr old "dreamer" was taken into custody by ICE agents in Seattle area pic.twitter.com/5vu5wnxjwJ
— Heather Graf (@HeatherGrafK5) February 15, 2017
A status hearing on the case is set for 10 a.m. Friday in federal court. As of Tuesday night, the Trump administration had yet to weigh in on the matter. On Wednesday, the Mexican Consul to Seattle offered consular protection to Medina, via Twitter.
The Consulate of Mexico in Seattle is following up on the case of the detained #Dreamer in Washington and has offered consular protection.
— ConsulMex Seattle (@ConsulMexSEA) February 15, 2017
