For Immediate Release
October 6, 2025
Contact:
Arianna Rosales, media@nipnlg.org
Emma Gillett, gillett@rfkhumanrights.org
Jesse Vad, media@laaclu.org
Washington, DC – Today, the National Immigration Project, the ACLU of Louisiana, and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights filed a habeas petition in federal court seeking the release of 18-year-old Carlos Guerra Leon. Carlos, who just graduated from high school in Spring Valley, New York earlier this year, has approved Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) with Deferred Action. Nevertheless, in August, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) unlawfully detained Carlos and sent him to a detention center in Louisiana. The filings ask the court to order Guerra Leon’s immediate release from detention and reaffirm that the government’s actions violate federal law and the U.S. Constitution.
The SIJS program was designed by a bipartisan Congress to protect children who have survived parental abuse, abandonment, and neglect. The program provides a pathway to citizenship for these children, and contemplates that they will be present in the United States as they go through that process. In recent years, more than 100,000 children and youth—like Carlos—have been approved for SIJS, and have relied on its Congressionally-crafted protections to build new, stable lives here in the United States. But in August, ICE arbitrarily detained Carlos, ignoring his valid SIJS grant and his accompanying grant of deferred action which precludes his deportation from the United States.
“Carlos should be at home, with family, building his future; not caged in a detention center more than 1,000 miles away,” said Bridget Pranzatelli, Staff Attorney at the National Immigration Project. “Congress created SIJS for kids like Carlos, to protect them from instability and persecution. Now, ICE is blatantly disregarding the goal of the SIJS program. We are simply asking the court to uphold the protection that was already granted to Carlos and let him go home.”
“Carlos’ case makes it clear that the current administration is targeting even kids who have already been granted protection by our government,” said Nora Ahmed, legal director of the ACLU of Louisiana. “ICE appears to have been instructed to ignore every legal protection and constitutional safeguard that once constrained their power; the law seems to no longer matter.”
"Carlos came to the United States as a 10-year-old who had suffered abandonment and neglect," said Sarah Decker, U.S. Senior Staff Attorney at RFK Human Rights. "After being granted special immigration status, he trusted that the U.S. government would do what it had promised - protect him. Instead, he's been wrenched from his home and trapped in a Louisiana ICE facility for months. Every day that he spends apart from his family is a violation of his most basic human rights."
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The National Immigration Project is a membership organization of attorneys, advocates, and community members who believe that all people should be treated with dignity, live freely, and flourish. We litigate, advocate, educate, and build bridges across movements to ensure that those most impacted by the immigration and criminal systems are uplifted and supported. Learn more at nipnlg.org. Follow the National Immigration Project on Bluesky, Facebook, Twitter/X, and Instagram at @NIPNLG.
Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization that has worked to realize Robert F. Kennedy's dream of a more just and peaceful world since 1968. In partnership with local activists, we advocate for key human rights issues—championing change makers and pursuing strategic litigation at home and around the world. And to ensure change that lasts, we foster a social-good approach to business and investment and educate students about human rights and social justice.
The ACLU of Louisiana leads the charge to protect the civil rights and liberties of Louisianians, especially those most marginalized and historically harmed. True to our founding during the Civil Rights Movement, we are fearless in the face of intimidation and fight tirelessly to protect and empower Louisiana’s Black, Brown, Immigrant, and LGBTQ+ communities. We are part of a nationwide network of affiliates working in courts, legislatures, and communities in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C.