Trump's Least Favorite Judge to Hear DACA Deportee Case

President Trump is likely to be no fan of this scenario. US District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, whom Trump accused of being a "hater" and a "Mexican" when he presided over a lawsuit involving Trump University, will hear the case of a man who says he was deported by US officials despite having protected status under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, reports CNN. Curiel, an Obama appointee from Indiana, was assigned to the case at random. Legal analysts say objections to the assignment are unlikely to result in a change since Curiel "handles many cases involving the United States government" and "simply being attacked by the President isn't a conflict of interest," per NBC News and USA Today.

The case centers on 23-year-old Juan Manuel Montes, who says he was deported to Mexico in February even though he qualified for DACA protection in 2014 and renewed his status for two years in 2016, meaning he should have been protected until 2018. US authorities initially said Montes never renewed his DACA permit when it expired in 2015. On Wednesday, however, the Department of Homeland Security said Montes' permit was valid until 2018 but he "lost his DACA status when he left the United States without advance parole on an unknown date," violating a continuous residency condition. He was arrested in the US on Feb. 19, admitted to entering the country illegally, and was sent back to Mexico, DHS says. (More deportation stories.)