Chaparral, NM (KFOX14/CBS4) — Paulo Cesar Gamez Lira, a DACA recipient, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents outside his home near El Paso on August 13, according to the Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center.

He has been held at the Otero County Processing Center since then. Immigration advocacy groups are prompting for his release.

Marisa Limon Garza, Executive Director of the Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, said, “He was detained in front of his home, in front of his children. And unfortunately, as he was being taken away, his arm was dislocated and was a very violent form of aggression towards someone with legal status to be in the United States.”

Becca Sheff, Senior Staff Attorney with the ACLU of New Mexico, which is representing Gamez Lira in his federal habeas petition, said, “He’s been separated from his loved ones held at the Otero detention facility in New Mexico. He has a baby who’s a newborn, who’s sick, who badly needs him. Other kids under ten who are counting on him. All the kids are also U.S. citizens. And he’s just had his whole world upended for no good reason.”

Gamez Lira, who has been a DACA recipient for years, had a minor legal incident as a teenager.

Sheff explained, “He had a very minor run-in with the cops back when he was a teenager, where he got charged with possession of marijuana that got dropped down, apparently to a disorderly misconduct. We’re still running down some information about exactly what happened there, but that was ten years ago. He was 17. He’s gotten his docket renewed over and over again. Since then, he hasn’t had any trouble with the law since then.”

The ACLU of New Mexico, in collaboration with a private law firm, has filed a habeas petition on Gamez Lira’s behalf. Sheff stated, “We’ve filed the Habeas petition for Paulo. We’re essentially coming into court saying his detention is unlawful, it’s unconstitutional, and the government needs to show up and explain whether they has any good reason whatsoever to hold him. And if not, he needs to be released immediately.”

Garza emphasized the importance of protecting DACA recipients’ rights, saying, “Two different channels, one main strategy, but we have to, at this point in time, protect people using all these different kinds of mechanisms to make sure that people that are lawfully here have access to the protection that they have earned and literally paid for. Because when you’re a DACA recipient, you apply every two years with a fee of over $400 to have this status.”

KFOX14/CBS4 reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment but they haven’t provided one.

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