LOS ANGELES — An immigration decide has dismissed the deportation case towards a landscaper who was arrested in Southern California final 12 months, and the father of three U.S. Marines is now on a path towards authorized everlasting residency within the U.S.
The June detention of Narciso Barranco, who got here to the U.S. from Mexico within the Nineteen Nineties however doesn’t have authorized standing, caught widespread consideration because the crackdown on immigration by President Donald Trump’s administration drew scrutiny and protests.
Witnesses uploaded movies of the arrest in Santa Ana, a metropolis in Orange County. Federal brokers struggled with Barranco and pinned him to the bottom exterior an IHOP restaurant the place he had been clearing weeds.
Barranco was taken to a Los Angeles detention middle and positioned in deportation proceedings. In July, he was launched on a $3,000 bond and ordered to put on an ankle monitor.
In a Jan. 28 order terminating the deportation case, Decide Kristin S. Piepmeier mentioned that Barranco, 49, had supplied proof that he was the daddy of three U.S.-born sons within the navy, making him eligible to hunt lawful standing.
“I really feel completely happy,” Barranco mentioned in a cellphone interview in Spanish. “Thank God I don’t have that weight on prime of me.”
Barranco mentioned he’s nonetheless staying principally at dwelling and never taking any possibilities going out till his authorized paperwork has been finalized.
The Division of Homeland Safety mentioned Thursday that it will attraction the decide’s choice, which was first reported by the New York Occasions.
Barranco’s lawyer Lisa Ramirez mentioned her consumer feels “excessive aid” now that immigration officers have eliminated his ankle monitor and discontinued his check-ins.
“The aggressive nature of the apprehension, it was traumatic,” Ramirez mentioned Thursday. “Mr. Barranco has had zero prison historical past. They got here after him as a result of he was a brown gardener within the streets of Santa Ana.”
Ramirez mentioned Barranco has utilized for Parole in Place, a program that protects the dad and mom of U.S. navy personnel from deportation and helps them acquire everlasting residency. If that petition is authorized, Barranco will obtain a piece allow. She estimated the method may take six months or extra.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin reiterated earlier authorities claims that Barranco refused to adjust to instructions and swung his weed trimmer at an agent.
“The brokers took acceptable motion and adopted their coaching to make use of the minimal quantity of pressure essential to resolve the state of affairs in a fashion that prioritizes the security of the general public and our officers,” McLaughlin mentioned in Thursday’s assertion.
His son Alejandro Barranco advised The Related Press in June that his father didn’t assault anybody, had no prison document and is variety and hardworking. The U.S. Marine Corps veteran mentioned using pressure was pointless and differed drastically from his navy coaching. He aided the U.S. navy’s evacuation of personnel and Afghan allies from Afghanistan in 2021.
Alejandro left the Marine Corps in 2023. His two brothers are presently active-duty Marines.
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Related Press author Amy Taxin in Santa Ana, California, contributed.
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