Defendant USCIS is ENJOINED from asserting, adopting, or relying in any proceedings on any statement or record made as of this date purporting to allege or establish that Mr. Ramirez is a gang member, gang affiliated, or a threat to public safety.
— Chief Judge Ricardo Martinez of the Western District of Washington in a stunning opinion blasting ICE for its systematic efforts to deceive the court. The immigration officers wanted to deport a qualified DACA recipient and concocted a story about the man’s gang activity. So much for candor. Judge Martinez, a George W. Bush appointee, did not mince words in expressing his dismay that an organ of the United States government would perpetrate a fraud on the court. “Most troubling to the Court, is the continued assertion that Mr. Ramirez is gang-affiliated, despite providing no evidence specific to Mr. Ramirez to the Immigration Court in connection with his administrative proceedings, and offering no evidence to this Court to support its assertions four months later.”
As we mentioned earlier this week, this is why threatening to call ICE on people is so scary… we have empirical examples of them trying to deport people they have no business deporting.
Check out the full benchslap on the next page…)
Joe Patrice is an editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.