Civil Rights Groups Ask Court to Release Recent High School Grad Abducted by ICE
Carlos Guerra Leon is currently being detained in Louisiana, more than a thousand miles from his home in New York.
Civil rights groups are demanding the release of a recent high school graduate who was abducted by Immigration and Enforcement Officers (ICE.)
In August, 18-year-old Carlos Guerra Leon of Spring Valley, New York was driving his neighbor to work when ICE officers stopped his car, according to a habeas petition filed this week on Guerra Leon’s behalf by the National Immigration Project, the ACLU of Louisiana, and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights.
The officers took Guerra Leon’s wallet, which had his driver’s license in it. They told him that he had a removal order and arrested him, without a warrant. He was transferred to Jackson Parish Correctional Center in Jonesboro, Louisiana, more than a thousand miles from his home in New York.
Guerra Leon was unaware that when he was 12-years-old, an immigration court had ordered that he be removed. At the time of his arrest, he had a valid driver’s license, a valid work permit, a social security number, and an approved immigration petition.
He came to the United States from Guatemala in 2018 when he was 10-years-old and settled in Spring Valley with his mother. He was granted Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) based on the fact that his father had abused and neglected him. Congress created the SJIS program in 1990, which allows abused or abandoned children to stay in the United States and apply for a green card.
When he was 12-years-old, an immigration court issued a removal order against him in absentia, which means he was not present in the courtroom. He first learned of the order when he was arrested in August.
As an SIJS recipient, Guerra Leon is eligible to apply for a green card. However, there is an annual limit on visas available to SIJS recipients. It’s estimated that more than 100,000 recipients are waiting to apply for a green card, according to the petition.
“Because of the visa backlog impacting SIJS beneficiaries, Carlos could not immediately apply to adjust his status to become an LPR [Lawful Permanent Resident] after being approved for SIJS, and instead was required to wait until a visa became available to him,” the petition says.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) instituted a policy in 2022 to protect SIJS recipients from deportation while they wait to apply for a green card. Under the new policy, SIJS recipients would be considered for a “discretionary grant of deferred action,” according to the petition.
That year, Guerra Leon received a four-year, renewable grant of deferred action, which expires next year. The Trump administration has since rescinded the policy, although it does not affect those already granted a deferment, like Guerra Leon. (The One Big Beautiful Bill also imposes a $250 fee on SIJS applicants, although fee waivers are available.)
“[The deferred action] allowed him to attend school, work legally, and build a stable life here in the United States without the threat of deportation while he waits to apply for a green card,” the petition states.
Still in high school, Guerra Leon began working at a car wash, a job he still held at the time ICE agents abducted him. He shared his earnings with his mother to help pay for rent and groceries, and set some money aside to put towards a vocational program he hoped to attend.
“He earned a reputation for always being early to his shifts, which often began at 7 a.m. on the weekends,” the petition says. “His boss describes him as responsible, dependable, and one of the hardest working members of the team.”
Because of his illegal arrest and detention, “he has been thrown into sudden instability.”
“At only eighteen years old, he is separated from his family, missing work, and falling behind on saving for his enrollment in his desired vocational program,” the petition says.
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