A federal judge has ordered the immediate return of the father of a U.S. Marine who was detained at the gates of Camp Pendleton last fall and deported to Mexico without a hearing. “The Court cannot fathom more ‘extreme circumstances’ then [sic] an unlawful deportation without justification, notice, or any opportunity to be heard,” the judge wrote in the 10-page order, adding that Esteban Rios Sosa “should not have been detained at all, much less removed.” Rios Sosa and his wife Luisa Rodriguez have lived in Oceanside for decades. Last September, they were with their son Steve Rios, who’s a Marine, trying to visit their daughter – who’s married to a Marine – at Camp Pendleton. They were stopped at the gate and Rios Sosa and Rodriguez were detained, taken to the federal building in downtown San Diego and released with ankle monitors, told to come back a few weeks later to check in with ICE. When they returned to the federal building in early October, they were detained again. Federal agents led them away in handcuffs as Rios Sosa wore what his son said was his lucky shirt, a red T-shirt that reads “Proud Dad of a U.S. Marine.” Rodriguez was taken to the Otay Mesa Detention Center and Rios Sosa was immediately deported to Mexico. But his attorney says both have pending U visa applications. In a court filing, Rios Sosa’s attorney said U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services had notified them in 2024 that their applications were bona fide but could not be granted immediately because the agency had reached its cap on U visas for the year. As part of that process, Rios Sosa and Rodriguez were granted what’s known as deferred action, which his attorney said serves as essentially protection from enforcement, as well as work authorization while they wait to make it through the backlog. Because of that deferred action, after about three weeks in detention, an immigration judge ordered Rodriguez released. Then in July, Rios Sosa sued the federal government, arguing they violated his right to due process in deporting him without a chance to see an immigration judge. On Tuesday, a federal judge agreed, ordering his immediate return to the U.S. “The government made promises to Mr. Rios Sosa to not engage in this kind of arbitrary enforcement against him,” said his attorney, Monika Langarica, the deputy legal director of the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law. “The government’s actions to renege on those promises, to break those promises, I think really resonated with a lot of people who take the government at its word and who believe the government when it says it’s not going to do a certain thing.” When asked about Rios Sosa’s case, the Department of Homeland Security has repeatedly alleged he is a violent criminal. Back in October, they said he was charged with domestic violence and aggravated assaulted with a deadly weapon. When reached for comment on the lawsuit, ICE in August called him by the incorrect name – Mauricio – and said he was “charged with inflicting corporal injury on spouse, assault with a deadly weapon, and damage of power lines.” Rios Sosa has continually maintained those allegations are false. DHS has never provided evidence of those charges and Langarica said the government never filed anything related to those claims in court. ICE did not respond to request for comment on the judge’s order for Rios Sosa’s return. “I think the government has had many opportunities to make this right, and unfortunately, they didn’t do that,” Langarica said. The judge also ordered the government to restore Rios Sosa’s prior immigration status “as if his October 2025 removal never occurred.” Langarica said she’s working to get him back quickly, after being separated from his family for nearly a year and missing the birth of his grandson. “He and the family are just overjoyed,” she said, “and really, really ready to be back together.” ...read more read less