Defending Dreamers from Deportation It was a wet morning in Seattle in February 2017, and Daniel Ramirez and his family were asleep when immigration agents arrived to arrest Daniel’s father. Both Daniel and his father were undocumented – Daniel had been brought to the U.S. at age 10 – but Daniel was a participant in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. As a result, he had a work permit and was shielded from deportation. Immigration agents interrogated Daniel anyway, and despite his A photo of Dreamer Daniel Ramirez, with his son, before his unjust arrest and detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
insistence that he was protected by DACA, he was detained and taken to a processing center. Agents confiscated his work permit, and falsely charged that he was affiliated with a gang. Based on this allegation, the government stripped Daniel of his DACA status and placed him in removal proceedings. Daniel’s arrest marked the first time that a DACA recipient had been detained under the Trump Administration.
Daniel’s arrest marked the first time that a DACA recipient was detained under the Trump Administration.
Fortunately, soon after Daniel’s arrest, a Public Counsel attorney saw a plea for help shared on Facebook. The next day, attorneys from Public Counsel were on a plane to Washington to meet with Daniel. 6
