SEATTLE (AP) - The Latest on a judge agreeing to release Daniel Ramirez Medina, a Mexican immigrant who was arrested near Seattle despite his participation in a program designed to protect those brought to the U.S. illegally as children (all times local):
5:40 p.m.
A Mexican man held in custody for more than six weeks despite his participation in a program designed to protect those brought to the U.S. illegally as children spent 40 minutes answering questions from prosecutors before an immigration judge agreed to release him.
Mark Rosenbaum, an attorney for 24-year-old Daniel Ramirez Medina, said his client testified during a two-hour hearing Tuesday afternoon. Rosenbaum says the government grilled him about his purported gang involvement, but that Ramirez answered truthfully that he had no such ties, and the judge found him credible.
A spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately return an email seeking comment.
Rosenbaum says the judge ordered Ramirez released on $15,000 bond pending deportation proceedings. His legal team is continuing to challenge the government’s case against him in federal court.
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5:10 p.m.
An immigration judge says a Mexican man arrested despite participating in a program designed to protect those brought to the U.S. illegally as children can be released from custody pending deportation proceedings.
Matt Adams, an attorney at the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, told The Associated Press that Judge John Odell made the decision Tuesday. Adams says he expects 24-year-old Daniel Ramirez Medina to be released Wednesday.
Immigration agents arrested Ramirez on Feb. 10 at a suburban Seattle apartment complex where they had gone to arrest his father, a previously deported felon.
Agents said Ramirez acknowledged affiliating with gangs, which he adamantly denies.
He has no criminal record and twice passed background checks to participate in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which allows young people brought to the U.S. illegally as children to stay and work.
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