OMAHA — The Nebraska DACA recipient whom ICE had detained for nearly three months has returned home to his Omaha family after an immigration court judge dismissed his deportation case.

Joel Angel-Becerril, 27, was freed Friday due to his temporary and renewable protection under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

Court records show that the request to dismiss because of DACA actually came from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which had placed him in deportation proceedings and had held him in the Sarpy County Jail since early December. Angel-Becerril was represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska.

“I’m walking into this new chapter of my life with nothing but gratitude,” Angel-Becerril said in a statement, thanking family, friends and legal team. “This experience opened my eyes to how quickly lives can be disrupted, especially for those of us navigating this country under DACA.”

His case is “just one story,” Angel-Becerril said. “But I hope it sheds light on the ongoing injustices many families face and the urgent need for fairness, accountability and reform.”

‘Finally Free And Back Home’

ACLU attorney Grant Friedman called the dismissal of removal proceedings “welcome proof that DACA still protects its recipients, who rightly believe that home is here.”

“Although the right thing would have been for our client never to have been taken into ICE custody in the first place, we are grateful he is finally free and back home,” said Friedman.

Angel-Becerril’s case was one of five lawsuits ACLU Nebraska has filed in federal court this year on behalf of detainees in ICE custody who have been denied bond hearings based on a new interpretation of immigration law by the Trump administration. The Omaha Burke High graduate’s case stood out as he was a DACA recipient whose status gained in 2015 remained active and who was authorized to work until 2027.

Tailored for young immigrants brought to the country as children, DACA allows for a work permit and temporary protection from deportation, provided certain criteria are met. The Obama-era program, initiated in 2012, faces ongoing legal challenges and is not a direct path to citizenship.

Angel-Becerril arrived from Mexico at about age 5 with his mother and younger sister, and has lived in Omaha almost his entire life. He has four siblings, three of them U.S. citizens, and worked full-time for an auto salvaging company.

Two Judges Act

As originally filed in early February, the ACLU-led federal lawsuit requested a bond hearing, hoping that Angel-Becerril would be released so he could battle his deportation case at home with family. Listed as defendants were directors of Homeland Security, ICE and the Sarpy County corrections director.

On Feb. 17, U.S. District Judge Susan Bazis agreed that Angel-Becerril was entitled to a bond hearing, though she noted his detention after that was discretionary.

In a twist, Immigration Judge Abby Meyer on Friday rejected Angel-Becerril’s bond but granted Homeland Security’s motion to dismiss removal proceedings altogether because of DACA protection, according to the ACLU attorneys.

The Immigration Court order on the motion to dismiss had little explanation but said: “DHS moved the Court to dismiss because the respondent still has DACA.”

Last summer, Angel-Becerril was charged with assault by strangulation or suffocation and, according to court records, ICE agents “encountered” him at the Douglas County jail “during a routine jail review” around five months later. The feds initiated deportation proceedings the same day, saying he had not been “admitted or paroled” into the country and did not have a “valid entry document.”

The assault charge was dismissed and ACLU has said Angel-Becerril has no criminal convictions.

This story was published by Nebraska Examiner, an editorially independent newsroom providing a hard-hitting, daily flow of news. Read the original article: https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/02/24/nebraska-daca-recipient-freed-from-ice-custody-and-deportation-case-due-to-program-protections/