A federal judge in Minnesota ordered the Trump administration to release a former Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient, finding he was improperly arrested without a warrant in a North Dakota traffic stop and unlawfully detained. Tunheim on November 2 ordered the release of Ivan De Haro Villagrana, a Mexican citizen who came to the United States in 2002 when he was 5 years old. Villagrana obtained deferred action under the DACA program in 2016.
His DACA was not renewed around 2021 following a conviction for driving under the influence, according to the court order. DACA was created under the Obama administration in 2012 to protect certain immigrants brought to the U.S. as children from deportation and allow them to work legally. The program does not provide lawful immigration status or a pathway to citizenship.
The ruling comes amid the government's nationwide immigration crackdown and a historic rise in legal challenges to detention. More than 93,000 immigration-related habeas cases have been filed since January 2025, according to a ProPublica tracker, with cases recently surging in Minnesota. Newsweek has contacted Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Department of Homeland Security and the man's legal team for comment via email and is awaiting responses.
Federal judges have emerged as a key check against the Trump administration’s deportation machine. They have ordered the release of immigration detainees and called out immigration officials for disregarding due process rights and, in some cases, flouting court orders. McKenzie County Sheriff's Deputy Brady Gustafson stopped Villagrana in Watford City, North Dakota, on September 22 for driving without headlights, according to court filings.
Villagrana was unable to provide identification, according to the ruling. Gustafson contacted ICE Officer Johnston, who interviewed the man by telephone to establish his identity and check his immigration status. After checking government records, Johnston determined Villagrana did not have immigration documentation allowing him to remain in the United States.
Authorities also identified an address for him in Mitchell, Nebraska. Johnston determined that a warrantless arrest was justified because of what he described as "geographic challenges" and the distance between the nearest ICE office and Villagrana's residence, according to the order. Johnston instructed Gustafson to arrest Villagrana for immigration violations, and the deputy took him to the McKenzie County Correctional Facility in Watford City.
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