Appeals Court Judge: Even “Good Hombres” Not Safe Under Trump Immigration Rules

The case of a Hawaiian coffee grower who will be deported to Mexico has led an appeals court judge to question the Trump administration’s immigration policies. Magana Ortiz, a 43-year-old father of three, has lived in the U.S. since he was 15 years old, started his own company, and worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to research pests that afflict Hawaii’s coffee crops. “Magana Ortiz is by all accounts a pillar of his community and a devoted father and husband,” Judge Stephen Reinhardt of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals wrote. “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 obtained a stay of deportation in 2014 so he could work toward legal status, which he was doing when Trump took office. Soon after, the stay was removed and deportation ordered. The reason for the deportation order was not immediately clear, the Los Angeles Times reports. “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 ‘good hombres’ are not safe.”