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Supporters of the DACA program rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court. (Robin Bravender/ States Newsroom Washington Bureau)
OMAHA — In what advocates see as a troubling escalation of immigration enforcement in Nebraska, federal officials detained a DACA recipient who has lived in the U.S. since he was a kindergartner, and have denied him a bond hearing.
On Thursday, the ACLU of Nebraska filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Joel Angel-Becerril, 27, who is in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and authorized to work until 2027.
Tailored for young immigrants who came to this country as children, DACA allows for a work permit and temporary protection from deportation, provided certain criteria are met. The Obama-era program faces ongoing legal challenges and is not a direct path to citizenship.
ACLU officials believe the lawsuit is its first immigration detention case involving a DACA recipient in Nebraska. A half million recipients live in the U.S., about 2,500 of them in Nebraska.
No prior ICE contact
Angel-Becerril, a graduate of Omaha Burke High, arrived from Mexico at about age 5 with his mother and younger sister, and has lived in Omaha almost his entire life. The DACA status he gained in 2015 remains active, his lawyers said. He has four siblings, three of them U.S. citizens, and worked full-time for an auto salvaging company.
Nebraska is my home.
– Joel Angel-Becerril, ICE detainee who has lived in Omaha most his life
Before Angel-Becerril in early December was placed in deportation proceedings, he had never interacted with nor been contacted by ICE or the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, his attorneys said. He is currently being held in Sarpy County Jail.
“We are all highly troubled by seeing this turn of events,” said ACLU spokesperson Sam Petto. “There is no question it marks an escalation of where we have been.”
He said many believe DACA recipients “are safe, or should be.”
Angel-Becerril has no criminal convictions, said ACLU attorney Grant Friedman. Douglas County Court records show a choking-related assault charge last summer. Friedman said ICE agents picked up his client from Douglas County custody on Dec. 2 immediately after the charge was dismissed, and transported him to Sarpy County, where he is listed as being on an ICE hold.
Angel-Becerril is now being held on the claim that he is subject to mandatory detention, Friedman said. That puts him among thousands of immigrants nationally who have been denied a bond hearing based on a new interpretation of the law and an ICE policy change that asserts nearly all detained immigrants are ineligible for release on bond.
In a statement, Angel-Becerril said he holds onto hope of being reunited with his family.
“Nebraska is my home,” he said.
Lawsuit seeks release or hearing
Federal officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The lawsuit names Homeland Security, ICE and the Sarpy County corrections director as defendants.
The Trump administration’s new policy directive, which was issued last summer, overturns a longstanding practice and instead calls for mandatory detention and no release on bond for most immigrants facing deportation. The guidance hangs on a section of immigration law applied historically to newly arrived migrants, not those who already had been in the U.S. for years, even if they entered without authorization.
Observers say it has the effect of pushing detainees to self-deport rather than battle what could be months or years in detention.
Although a federal judge ruled recently in a class action lawsuit that the mandatory detention without opportunity for a bond hearing is unlawful, the country’s top immigration court official has instructed immigration judges to continue the practice.
Thursday’s complaint in the U.S. District Court of Nebraska argues that the denial of a bond hearing for Angel-Becerril violates the Immigration and Nationality Act and the judgment in the class action lawsuit that vacated ICE’s mandatory detention policy.
The ACLU seeks Angel-Becerril’s immediate release or a bond hearing.
ACLU third suit, two weeks
ACLU sues on behalf of McCook ICE detainees, criticizes attorney-client access
Said Friedman: “Our arguments come down to this: ICE cannot opt out of following federal law and court orders. Our client is as much a Nebraskan and American as any of us, and he has both protection from being deported and work authorization. He also has a right to a bond hearing under federal immigration law.”
Angel-Becerril’s lawsuit marks the ACLU of Nebraska’s third immigration-related lawsuit within two weeks. The prior two lawsuits were brought on behalf of men being held in the immigrant detention center in McCook, Nebraska.
“We will keep doing all we can for community members who are caught up in this mess,” said Friedman.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify a court proceeding.
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