Judge Orders Return of Deported Father
PHOTO CAPTION: A Marine military policeman scans an identification card at the main gate of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, Aug. 23, 2019. Rios Sosa was detained while attempting to enter Camp Pendleton during a family visit in September 2025. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Andrew Cortez)
A federal judge has ordered the government to immediately allow a longtime California resident back into the United States nearly a year after he was detained while trying to visit family at Camp Pendleton and deported to Mexico without a hearing.
U.S. District Judge Janis L. Sammartino ruled Sept. 8 that Esteban Rios Sosa should not have been detained or removed while he held valid deferred-action status. The judge ordered the government to restore that status upon his return as though his October 2025 removal had never occurred.
Rios Sosa, a Mexican citizen who has lived in Oceanside since 1988, went to Camp Pendleton on Sept. 28, 2025, with his wife and a son who had served in the Marine Corps. They were trying to visit Rios Sosa's pregnant daughter, who lived on the installation with her active-duty Marine husband.
According to the court order, Rios Sosa and his wife were stopped at the gate and detained despite having REAL ID-compliant identification, employment authorization documents and deferred-action status. The family had visited the base roughly 10 times previously without an issue.
The couple was taken to a federal building in San Diego, fitted with ankle monitors and instructed to report to Immigration and Customs Enforcement about two weeks later. The court said they were repeatedly reassured that they would not be detained or deported when they returned.
When Rios Sosa appeared for the Oct. 9 check-in, however, he was detained again. The court said he was taken to the basement, instructed to wear a mask to avoid news cameras in the building and deported to Mexico within 24 hours.
His wife was also detained but was later released by an immigration judge because of her deferred-action status. Rios Sosa remained in Mexico.
The court found that Rios Sosa's deferred-action status was still valid when he was removed and that he had not received notice that it had been revoked or an opportunity to challenge the government's action.
Sammartino wrote that Rios Sosa “should not have been detained at all, much less removed.” The judge found his removal without notice or a hearing violated his Fifth Amendment due-process rights.
The consequences extended well beyond the immigration case. Court records state that Rios Sosa missed the birth of his grandson and his daughter's college graduation while his family struggled financially without his income. He was also given paperwork when deported saying he was prohibited from attempting to enter the United States for 10 years.
The Department of Homeland Security has previously described Rios Sosa as a violent criminal and alleged that he had been charged with offenses including domestic violence and assault with a deadly weapon. Rios Sosa has denied those allegations. NBC 7 San Diego reported that DHS had not provided evidence supporting the allegations and that his attorney said the government did not submit them in the federal case. ICE did not respond to NBC's request for comment on the new ruling.
The judge ordered the government to immediately allow Rios Sosa to return and restore the rights and benefits associated with his deferred-action status. The government and Rios Sosa's attorneys must submit status reports every 10 days until he is back in the United States.
Sources: U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California; NBC 7 San Diego
(Source: OAF Nation)
