Oregon Firefighter Freed From ICE Detention After Arrest While Battling Washington Blaze
ICE Releases Oregon Firefighter Arrested Without Due Process After Lawyers File For Restraining Order Against Border Patrol
An Oregon firefighter, 23-year-old Rigoberto Hernandez Hernandez, who Border Patrol agents allegedly arrested without due process while fighting a fire last month, was released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention on Tuesday.
Oregon Firefighter Released From ICE Detention After Bringing Lawsuit
Hernandez, who was detained by Border Patrol last month while fighting the Bear Gulch Fire in Washington State, was released from ICE detention on Tuesday after his lawyers filed a motion for a Temporary Restraining Order and a Habeas Corpus Petition last week to secure Hernandez’s release.
Hernandez, who has lived on the West Coast since he was four years old, alleges he was denied due process, partly because he was not provided with notice of the immigration charges against him. He applied for legal status in 2018, but a backlog has delayed the process.
His lawyers indicated that Hernandez did have one conviction- for misdemeanor speed racing, but he has turned his life around in the meantime.
Court documents indicate that the U.S. Border Patrol filed a response on Monday, stating that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) had filed a motion to dismiss Hernandez’s removal proceedings earlier that day, rendering the restraining order moot.
DHS also told the court that ICE was voluntarily releasing Hernandez from detention the same day. The agency noted in their papers that the circumstances that arose after the Notice to Appear was issued had changed to such an extent that continuation of their opposition was no longer in the best interest of the government.