SAN DIEGO (AP) - The Latest on a lawsuit involving the deportation of a man from California to Mexico (all times local):
6:30 p.m.
The Department of Homeland Security says a young man who was returned to Mexico was not part of a program that shields people from deportation, as an advocacy group claims in a lawsuit.
DHS said in a statement Tuesday that 23-year-old Juan Manuel Montes was taken into custody in February by the Border Patrol just minutes after illegally entering the U.S. by climbing over a fence in the California border town of Calexico. DHS says he acknowledged entering illegally.
The statement says Montes hasn’t been in the program that protects some immigrants from deportation since 2015. DHS says he also has a conviction for theft for which he received probation.
The National Immigration Law Center sued the federal government in San Diego to obtain records on Montes.
The group said his could be the first known deportation of someone who was part of the program launched by President Barack Obama to shield people who came to the U.S. as young children.
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5:15 p.m.
A man has been sent to Mexico in what an advocacy group says could be the first known deportation of someone who was part of a program to shield people who came to the U.S. as young children.
The National Immigration Law Center sued the federal government Tuesday in San Diego to obtain records on Juan Manuel Montes, who was detained by the Border Patrol in February in the California border town of Calexico.
The advocacy group says the 23-year-old Montes had permission to work and live in the United States in the program that was introduced in 2012 to shield people from being deported.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it doesn’t comment on pending litigation.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
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