The judge singled out by President Trump during the campaign as biased against him because his parents are Mexican is now overseeing a crucial deportation case.
Multiple reports indicate Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who was born in the United States but is of Mexican heritage, will hear the case of Juan Manuel Montes Bojorquez. The 23-year-old Bojorquez was deported to Mexico earlier this year, but his lawyers say he was supposed to be protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
During the campaign, Curiel was the judge overseeing the Trump University lawsuit that saw Trump pay millions of dollars to settle fraud claims.
Trump ripped Curiel in interviews and on the campaign trail, saying that he was biased against Trump because of his Mexican heritage and that he could not be impartial. The remarks caused an uproar among members of both parties and civil rights activists who criticized Trump’s remarks as racist and called into question his respect for an independent judiciary.
Even Justice Neil Gorsuch criticized Trump’s comments to members of the Senate during his confirmation process.
During an interview on CNN, Trump said, “He’s proud of his heritage. I respect him for that. He’s a Mexican. We’re building a wall between here and Mexico.”
He later walked back his comments and said “one’s heritage (doesn’t make) them incapable of being impartial.”
