Seattle – The Department of Justice and attorneys for a Des Moines, Washington man have resolved a $450,000 tort claim against various government agencies because of the arrest and detention of a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. The settlement provides that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will issue 29-year-old Daniel Ramirez Medina a four-year stay of removal from the United States. Mr. Ramirez Medina may apply for other immigration relief during that four-year period. ICE will not use any record or statement made before May 15, 2018, in evaluating any of Mr. Ramirez Medina’s applications and specifically will not consider any allegation that he is a gang member or a threat to public safety.
“This settlement essentially gives Mr. Ramirez Medina a clean slate as he works to obtain legal status in the United States,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. “I am pleased that this settlement involves no monetary payment and yet goes to the core of what Mr. Ramirez Medina wants: a fair chance to obtain legal status in the U.S.”
On February 10, 2017, ICE agents arrested Mr. Ramirez Medina at the Des Moines, Washington apartment he shared with his father and brother. Mr. Ramirez Medina was detained at the ICE detention facility in Tacoma until an immigration judge ordered him released on March 29, 2017. In his tort claims for false arrest and false imprisonment, Mr. Ramirez Medina alleges that he was wrongly arrested and detained.
The settlement agreement states that it is not an admission of liability or fault by any of the parties including the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), ICE, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) or Mr. Ramirez Medina.
The agreement also states that should Mr. Ramirez Medina violate the law, the grant of deferred action can be terminated.
The resolution of this matter was negotiated by Assistant United States Attorneys Nickolas Bohl and Kristen Vogel.