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DACA recipient from Los Angeles arrested, attorney says
FILE PHOTO: A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent detains an immigrant in October 2015.
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John Moore/Getty Images
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A young immigrant from Los Angeles who has been living and working here under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program has been arrested and is being detained, according to his attorney.
DACA provides temporary protection from deportation and a work permit to roughly 750,000 young immigrants brought into the country as children who are in the U.S. illegally. Authorized by President Obama, DACA has come under review by President Trump's administration but is still in effect.
Los Angeles attorney Joseph Porta told KPCC on Wednesday that the young man, who Porta would not name, is 22 years old and was detained in the early hours of Feb. 12.
“He got pulled over. I’m not entirely sure why, and he was detained. I'm not entirely sure who detained him or arrested him yet. But long story short, after a very short period, he was immediately turned over to ICE,” Porta said.
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Porta said his client has renewed his DACA status twice.
A local U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson said she was not immediately aware of the case.
Porta said he is trying to learn more details about the arrest, but that it’s been difficult because his client has been transferred out of the state. The young man is presently being detained in Georgia and faces deportation, he said.
The attorney said the young man has a clean record and may have a speeding ticket, and that as he understands it, no criminal charges have been filed against him.
The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), an immigrant rights group, plans a press conference Thursday in Los Angeles regarding the case. The group said it wants to know why immigration officials detained the DACA recipient.
Earlier this month, a DACA recipient was detained in the state of Washington.
This week, the Trump administration released memos detailing an aggressive immigration enforcement plan, but said that the DACA program would not be affected.
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