A federal judge has dismissed the deportation proceedings against Catalina “Xochitl” Santiago, a 28-year-old DACA beneficiary and community activist from El Paso, Texas, but the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is detaining her.

Santiago has remained in custody for more than five weeks after being detained by Border Patrol at El Paso International Airport on August 3.

Santiago, who has lived in the United States since she was 8 years old, is a recipient of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and has had that protection since 2012. Her immigration status is valid until April 2026. The community organizer’s arrest sparked protests demanding her release.

DACA offers temporary protection from deportation to people who were brought to the United States as children.

In his order, Immigration Judge Michael Pleters firmly stated that Xochitl’s status under DACA is valid and therefore the regulations expressly authorize the court to terminate her deportation process. deportation.

Despite the ruling, Santiago remains detained at the El Paso ICE Processing Center.

Christopher Benoit, the attorney representing Santiago in the federal case, told El Paso Matters that as of 6 p.m. Tuesday, she remained detained in El Paso.

“Keeping her detained constitutes a violation of her right to constitutional due process. It was a violation to initiate deportation proceedings. There is no rational basis for her detention,” Benoit said.

Federal prosecutors have 30 days to appeal the decision, leaving her future uncertain.

United We Dream, an advocacy organization for Dreamers, as DACA recipients are known, reported the ruling in a statement sent to La Opinion and emphasized that “their loved ones and communities across the United States now demand that the ICE El Paso Field Office and its acting director, Marisa Flores, “Release her immediately.”

“This decision is a victory, but the fight isn’t over until Xochitl is released,” said Desiree Miller, Xochitl’s wife. “Our family and community have suffered every day since she was taken. Now that the judge has dismissed her case, she shouldn’t spend another night in detention. We need her home now.”

For weeks, thousands of people have demonstrated, spoken out, and demanded Xochitl’s release, supporting her family and loved ones. Her advocates have stressed that her continued detention, even after the dismissal of her case, is unjustified and prejudicial.

“Xochitl’s DACA program remains intact, and the judge has terminated her removal proceedings on that basis,” said Luis Cortes, Romero of Novo Legal Group, a Santiago attorney.

“The government has shifted its narrative and relied on inaccurate claims about her criminal history, but in court, they presented no evidence of pending criminal charges, nor any changes since she was last granted DACA, to justify her detention. There is simply no legal or moral basis to keep her behind bars,” Cortes said.

Xochitl’s habeas corpus petition, filed in federal court, remains pending. A temporary restraining order (TRO) has been granted, meaning the courts have ruled that Xochitl cannot be removed from the Western District of Texas or the United States.