Charles Reed/U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement via REUTERS
Civil-rights lawyers filed a federal petition late Tuesday for the release of Daniel Ramirez Medina, the first known DREAMer to be arrested under the Trump administration’s stepped-up enforcement of immigration laws. The 23-year-old Mexican man with no criminal record was brought to the United States illegally as a child and later given a work permit during the Obama administration. Medina was taken into custody Friday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers who were conducting an action at his father’s Seattle home. In an email to the Seattle Times, ICE officials claimed that Medina—who they referred to as Mr. Ramirez—was a “self-admitted gang member.” A lawyer for Medina said he denies being in a gang and reported being pressured by ICE agents to “falsely admit affiliation.” According to a court filing, Medina was given temporary permission to live and work legally in the United States due to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, established during the Obama administration. Medina is being held at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma.