A federal appeals court judge criticized President Trump’s immigration policies in a decision that did not stop the deportation of a businessman in Hawaii who has lived in the country for 28 years.
Judge Stephen Reinhardt, an appointee of President Jimmy Carter and “liberal badboy of the federal judiciary,” joined his fellow 9th Circuit Court of Appeals judges in refusing Magana Ortiz’s request that the courts block his deportation proceedings. In his concurring opinion, Reinhardt took aim at Trump.
“President Trump has claimed that his immigration policies would target the ‘bad hombres,'” Reinhardt wrote. “The government’s decision to remove Magana Ortiz shows that even the ‘good hombres’ are not safe.
“Magana Ortiz is by all accounts a pillar of his community and a devoted father and husband. It is difficult to see how the government’s decision to expel him is consistent with the president’s promise of an immigration system with ‘a lot of heart.’ I find no such compassion in the government’s choice to deport Magana Ortiz.”
Ortiz entered the country at 15, is now 43 and has three children ages 12, 14, and 20, Reinhardt noted in his concurring opinion. Ortiz worked in the coffee farming industry and joined the U.S. Department of Agriculture in examining the impact of pests hurting Hawaii’s coffee crops. He also let the government use his farm to conduct studies. Reinhardt noted that Ortiz has two convictions for driving under the influence, the most recent 14 years ago, and no history of other crimes.
The government granted Ortiz’s 2014 request for a “stay of removal,” preventing his deportation as a result of his illegal immigration in 1989. Ortiz filed another stay two years later in November 2016. The government reversed its position in March 2017 and denied Ortiz’s request this month. Now, Ortiz is set to be deported to Mexico.
Reinhardt wrote that the 9th Circuit Court was “unable” to prevent Ortiz’s deportation but such action was “contrary to the values of this nation and its legal system.”
“The government’s decision to remove Magana Ortiz diminishes not only our country but our courts, which are supposedly dedicated to the pursuit of justice,” Reinhardt wrote. “Magana Ortiz and his family are in truth not the only victims. Among the others are judges who, forced to participate in such inhumane acts, suffer a loss of dignity and humanity as well. I concur as a judge, but as a citizen I do not.”
