Dreamer claims he was wrongly forced across border: report



07/14/17 07:36 PM EDT

Lawyers for Juan Manuel Montes, the first "Dreamer" deported under the Trump administration, alleged in court filings on Friday that the 23-year-old was improperly forced out of the U.S. by immigration agents, USA Today reported.

Montes has said he was picked up on the street by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents after finishing dinner with a friend, and was subsequently deported, despite having been twice granted deportation protections under the Obama-era program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

The Homeland Security Department has disputed Montes' story, saying they have no record that he was deported that night and that he crossed into Mexico on his own accord, thereby revoking his DACA status.

The statements filed in court come from the last people to see Montes in the U.S. before his deportation and the first people to see the man after he arrived in Mexico.

The statements reject the notion that Montes had intended to go to Mexico and say that he was visibly shaken upon arriving on the other side of the border, according to USA Today.
Montes tried reenter the U.S. a day after arriving in Mexico, but was caught by CBP agents and sent back across the border.

Montes has lived in Calexico, Calif., with his family since he was 9, making him eligible for DACA's reprieve from deportation. His attorneys are asking a judge to order the government to allow him to return to the U.S.

As a presidential candidate, Trump vowed to end DACA as part of his larger promise to crackdown on illegal immigration.

But his administration has not yet made a decision on the future of the program. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One this week that he would ultimately make the call himself.

"It's a decision that I make and it's a decision that's very, very hard to make. I really understand the situation now," Trump said. "I understand the situation very well. What I'd like to do is a comprehensive immigration plan. But our country and political forces are not ready yet."

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefi...-border-report