Deported Father of Marine Sergeant Files Lawsuit Seeking Lawful Return to the U.S.

Press Release

For Immediate Release: July 30, 2026 

Media Contact

Edward Barsoumian, Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law

press@centerforhumanrights.org, 408-807-2010

SAN DIEGO, CA - Today–after almost nine months of separation from his family–Esteban Rios Sosa, a deported father of a former U.S. Marine sergeant, filed a federal lawsuit seeking an order that will permit him to lawfully reunite with his family in the United States and return to the protections of his Deferred Action status, which the government ignored when it deported him last fall. Brought by the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, the suit alleges that the government violated Mr. Rios Sosa’s rights under Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause  and the Administrative Procedure Act when it detained and deported him. At the time of his deportation, Mr. Rios Sosa had valid Deferred Action status, which protects recipients from detention and removal. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) granted him this protection as part of his pending application for a U visa, an immigration benefit for noncitizen victims of crime–and their immediate relatives–who assist with the law enforcement investigation or prosecution of that crime. 

According to the lawsuit, ICE targeted Mr. Rios Sosa and his wife last fall while they attempted  to visit their pregnant daughter and active-duty Marine son-in-law at Camp Pendleton Marine Base in northern San Diego, as they had many times before without incident. At the time of their attempted visit, Mr. Rios Sosa and his wife were accompanied by their son, a then-Sergeant in the Marine Corps, and produced evidence of their valid Deferred Action status. Nevertheless, ICE agents took their fingerprints, fitted them with ankle monitors, and instructed him to appear at a “check-in” at ICE offices less than two weeks later, assuring  him they would not seek to deport him in light of his son’s military service. Mr. Rios Sosa dutifully attended his check-in, accompanied by his then-Marine son, where ICE agents detained him, reneging on their assurances and ignoring his Deferred Action status, and they summarily deported him to Mexico the next day, resulting in his separation  from his wife, three adult U.S. citizen children, and grandchildren–including his youngest grandson who was born in April.  Mr. Rios Sosa has been in Mexico ever since. His deportation has caused profound harm to him and the family he abruptly left behind in the United States.

“I am filing this lawsuit so that I can reunite with my family after I was unfairly deported despite having valid documents in hand at the time, and after I worked hard to build a life for me and my family in the United States over so many years,” said Mr. Rios Sosa.

Mr. Rios Sosa is a derivative applicant of his wife’s U visa petition– an immigration benefit she applied for after surviving a violent 2006 attack that required surgery and left her with lasting trauma, and which was witnessed by Mr. Rios Sosa. In early 2025, USCIS granted Mr. Rios Sosa Deferred Action after determining the U visa application is “bona fide.” Under previous administrations, Mr. Sosa’s Deferred Action status would have protected him from detention and deportation. In January 2025, the Trump administration issued a memo rescinding longstanding protections for immigrant survivors of serious crimes and authorizing their routine arrest, detention, and deportation for the first time in decades. A federal judge has temporarily restored those protections in a separate lawsuit, ICWC v. Noem, No. 2:25-CV-09848-AB-AS (C.D. Cal.), also led by the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law. 

“The United States is Mr. Rios Sosa’s home. In the decades he lived here, he worked hard, gave back to his community, and raised a family that assisted law enforcement and sacrificed in service of the armed forces,” said Monika Y. Langarica, Deputy Legal Director at the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law. “Rather than reward that invaluable dedication, the government broke its promise to protect Mr. Rios Sosa from detention and deportation–in brazen disregard for the laws and Constitution. We intend to hold the government accountable for these abuses and seek justice for Mr. Rios Sosa’s family.” 

Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, this lawsuit asks a federal judge to order the government to permit Mr. Rios Sosa to return to the United States under the protections of his valid Deferred Action status–which would allow him to reunite with his family and hold the government to its decades-long commitment to protect immigrant survivors of serious crimes. 

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The Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law (CHRCL) is a legal non-profit committed to protecting and advancing the rights of immigrants through legal action, advocacy, and education. Through impact litigation, we challenge unlawful immigration policies to drive systemic change and establish stronger legal protections for immigrants. At the local, state, and federal levels, we advocate for fair and humane policies that uphold the rights of all immigrants. For more information, please visit centerforhumanrights.org.