Lawyers for Daniel Ramirez Medina, a Mexican-born man detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) [official website], despite being a recipient of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) [USCIS materials] program, have said that their client is expected to be released as early as Wednesday on a $15,000 bond [KCPQ report]. DACA recipients are granted permission to stay and work in the US without fear of deportation. ICE alleges that Ramirez Medina has gang ties and should therefore be deported, an allegation that he has repeatedly denied [AP report]. Ramirez Medina was arrested on February 10 in Seattle, Washington and has remained in detention for 45 days. His lawyers also allege his arrest is a violation of his constitutional right to due process.

DACA has been a contentious issue in recent weeks. In January DACA-protected Mitzie Perez and the California League of United Latin American Citizens filed a lawsuit [JURIST report] against Wells Fargo alleging that the bank refused to extend Perez and other similarly situated students loans solely because of their immigration status. A Georgia state court refused to back down from its earlier ruling granting in-state tuition to Georgia university students protected by DACA. Also in January the US House of Representatives passed a funding bill [JURIST report] that included amendments designed to repeal key elements of DACA. A collection of mayors from major US cities, including Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, warned [JURIST report] then president-elect Donald Trump in December about potential negative economic consequences of repealing DACA.