Federal judge says Raleigh resident’s deportation ‘boggles the mind,’ orders return
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- A federal judge found Jose Martinez‑Andino was likely denied due process in removal.
- Judge Howell ordered officials to provide status reports and facilitate his return.
- Court required status reports from officials every 48 hours until he is returned.
A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the Trump administration to facilitate the return of a Honduran immigrant who was living in Raleigh under special legal status, finding he was likely denied due process in being removed earlier this year.
Jose Eliezer Martinez-Andino, 20, had been living with family in Raleigh before he was apprehended by immigration officers March 18 while traveling in Montana. He passed through about six detention centers in different states before being sent back to Honduras — a 10-day stretch in which he was allegedly barred from communicating with his family or attorneys, according to the court opinion.
His removal from the U.S. was executed in a manner that “boggles the mind,” Judge Beryl Howell wrote in the memorandum.
“He seemingly disappeared,” the Obama-appointed judge wrote. “He was not permitted to contact his attorneys for more than ten days, and neither Immigration and Customs Enforcement … nor Customs and Border Protection … would tell his attorneys where he was or in which agency’s custody, despite repeated requests.”
Martinez-Andino entered the U.S. by crossing the southern border into Texas as an unaccompanied minor in 2020, but an immigration court dismissed removal proceedings against him in 2023 after finding he had a valid application for a “Special Immigrant Juvenile” visa, a classification for individuals under 21 who are unable to be returned to their parents in their home country due to abuse.
The 20-year-old has no criminal history and has a 3-year-old U.S. citizen daughter who relies on his U.S. work authorization, according to the court opinion.
Martinez-Andino was deported after he signed a voluntary deportation agreement in detainment, which immigration officers allegedly told him was his only option, according to the court opinion.
“The coercive nature of these circumstances is only compounded by the rushed timing of presenting plaintiff with the forms on the day of or the morning immediately following his arrest and detention, without much, if any, opportunity to consult with counsel,” the memorandum reads.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday refuted that Martinez-Andino had been restricted from contacting legal aid.
“He entered the country illegally on an unknown date through Mexico,” they wrote in an email. “In September 2020, Border Patrol encountered him, and he was RELEASED into the country by the Biden administration. He was issued a voluntary return and departed the country on April 13. Any claims that he was not allowed access to an attorney are FALSE.”
The court opinion for Martinez-Andino’s case has a precedent in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran man living in Maryland who was wrongfully deported to a mega-prison in El Salvador. It argues his case should be handled “as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to [another country.]”
And that distinction is key, according to Allison Chan — an attorney with Margaret W. Wong & Associates law firm in Raleigh representing Martinez-Andino — as Martinez-Andino’s deferred action for his special immigrant juvenile status required him to be “in the U.S. and remain in the U.S.,” Chan said.
She said the judge’s delineation to handle Martinez-Andino’s case as if he hadn’t been removed is a positive signal for the future of his residency.
“This judge got it right,” Chan said of the 44-page opinion.
Howell ordered immigration officials to provide a status report by 4p.m. Thursday advising the court of the steps taken to facilitate his return, as well as subsequent status updates every 48 hours thereafter until Martinez-Andino is returned to the U.S.
Martinez-Andino had no words after hearing the court opinion, Chan said.
“I had to ask him, ‘Are you OK?’” Chan said of the conversation. “But he was just speechless and very happy.”
Chan said she’s seen many promises made by immigration officials to facilitate her clients’ return, only for those efforts to fall through. But she remains “cautiously optimistic” for Martinez-Andino’s return to the U.S.
“I’ve had ICE tell me that they would facilitate my clients’ return, but it ultimately didn’t happen and then they had to come back to the border under dangerous circumstances,” she said. “I would never advise that, and I’m really hoping that we don’t even get that far down the road. I’m just hoping for a smooth return.”
