Military Families and Immigration

An immigration judge dismissed the deportation case against Barranco, an undocumented Mexican father who has lived in the U.S. since the 1990s, has no criminal record, and is the father of three active‑duty U.S. Marines; he had been seeking parole‑in‑place as an immediate relative and spent three weeks in custody before release on bond with an ankle monitor. DHS said it will appeal, with Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin calling the ruling “lawless” and the judge “activist,” after dueling accounts of his June arrest — witnesses’ video showing agents piling on and punching Barranco versus DHS’s claim he swung a weed whacker — and multiple members of Congress and the family are urging expedited processing of his parole‑in‑place application.