Jessica Colotl Seeks Protection From ICE, Deportation
Elly Yu / WABE
A federal judge is deciding whether to restore protection from deportation to a metro Atlanta woman.
Early last month, immigration authorities denied Jessica Colotl protection under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, put in place by the Obama administration. They say it’s because she committed a felony in 2011, for making a false statement to a law officer after getting arrested for driving without a license.
Colotl’s attorney, Charles Kuck, says she completed a pretrial program that kept that conviction off her record. He argues that, because of this pretrial program, she has a clean record and definitely doesn’t have a felony charge on her record.
“It’s the first time that DACA has been taken away from somebody who has no disqualifying act in their life. And for that reason, it’s extraordinarily unique, but it won’t be unique if the government is allowed to continue to do this,” Kuck says.
On Thursday, a federal judge heard a motion to prevent immigration agents from detaining Colotl while the court reviews her DACA revocation. During the hearing, the government’s attorney, Jeffery Robins, admitted that Colotl did not have a felony charge on her record. Federal Judge Mark Cohen grilled Robins for the reason behind why U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was pursuing Colotl’s deportation.
“They have extended a benefit to her; they took it away without telling her why. And, in fact, in today’s court hearing, the government lawyer couldn’t even tell the judge why they did this. And the judge says, ‘Isn’t that the very definition of arbitrary?’ And it is,” Kuck says.
Cohen says he’ll have a decision by early next week on whether he will restore protection from deportation to Colotl.
Robins did not wish to comment for this story.
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