Federal immigration officials have lifted expedited deportation orders for three workers arrested by Border Patrol in Pomona last month. The decision comes days after a federal judge ruled to stop their removal.
Last month, 10 day laborers were arrested by Border Patrol outside a Home Depot on Towne Avenue in Pomona. Three of the men — Jesus Domingo Ros, Yoni Garcia, and Edwin Juarez — were initially targeted for deportation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to advocates with the Pomona Economic Opportunity Center.
Judge Dana Sabraw issued a temporary restraining order last Friday to halt the deportations of Ros, Garcia and Juarez. All of them are being detained at the Imperial Detention Facility near the Calexico-Mexicali border, but are now eligible for bail, according to Niels Frenzen of the USC Gould School of Law Immigration Clinic.
In a temporary restraining order issued Friday, Judge Sabraw wrote that Border Patrol agents went to the Home Depot to debrief after arresting another man, Martin Majin Leon, outside a barbershop on Holt Avenue. While there, agents claimed several workers acted suspiciously and ran — prompting them to question and detain the group.
Sabraw noted that the three day laborers allege their constitutional rights were violated.
“Petitioners proffered at oral argument that they have been physically present in the United States for more than two years and that they were unquestionably contacted by Border Patrol ‘within’ the United States,” reads Sabraw’s order. “The record before the Court raises serious questions regarding whether Petitioners’ Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights were violated and whether the expedited removal process was improvidently employed by Respondents.”
Judge Sabraw had ordered the Border Patrol agents involved in the arrests to provide details on their methods at an evidentiary hearing, which has now been canceled.
Frenzen, the attorney representing the men, said the Department of Homeland Security canceled their expedited removal orders on Monday. “So, the men are no longer subject to this summary expedited removal order that can result in them being removed without any hearing,” he said.
Frenzen said the government gave no explanation for the reversal, but added: “We would guess that the government decided it did not want to produce the arresting Border Patrol agents to testify in court under oath on Thursday to justify the legality of their actions.”
He also said the three men are now scheduled to appear before an immigration judge next month.
It remains unclear why DHS lifted the deportation orders. Border Patrol and ICE did not respond to requests for comment.
On May 6, advocates with the Pomona Economic Opportunity Center held a press conference calling on ICE to release three Guatemalan day laborers. Supporters said there is strong evidence that Ros, Garcia and Juarez have been in the country longer than immigration officials claimed.
Democratic lawmakers have echoed concerns raised by advocates, saying the arrests violated the due process rights of immigrants.
