US immigrant stripped of 'dreamer' status in part over alleged gang tattoo
Source: The Guardian
US immigrant stripped of 'dreamer' status in part over alleged gang tattoo
Sam Levin in San Francisco
Thursday 16 February 2017 20.57 GMT
The US government has terminated a detained undocumented immigrant’s “dreamer” status, alleging that he is a gang member in part because of a tattoo on his arm that says “peace” in Spanish.
Daniel Ramirez Medina, a 23-year-old with no criminal record who was brought to the US from Mexico when he was seven years old, was arrested last Friday in Seattle despite the fact that he was twice granted a work permit under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca) program.
The incident is believed to be the first arrest of a “dreamer”, as Daca recipients are known, since Donald Trump’s inauguration. The government’s court filings on Thursday have raised fresh concerns about the methods Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) may be using to deport immigrants who were previously protected by Barack Obama’s policies.
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Ramirez was taken into custody at his father’s house, when officers showed up on an arrest warrant for his father. Although law enforcement had no warrant for Ramirez, who was asleep when officers arrived, the agents asked him “are you legally here?” and eventually detained him, according to a lawsuit Ramirez’s attorneys filed challenging his ongoing detention.
Robins said officers asked Ramirez about a “gang tattoo” on his forearm, and that Ramirez responded that he “used to hang out with the Sureno’s in California” but “fled California to escape from the gangs”.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/16/daca-man-arrested-seattle-loses-status-trump