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LINCOLN, Neb. — The American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska filed a federal lawsuit Thursday challenging the continued immigration detention of a 27-year-old Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipient who has been held for months without a bond hearing, a practice attorneys say violates federal law.
The suit was filed on behalf of Joel Angel-Becerril, a DACA recipient who has been detained since December and has not been allowed to seek release before an immigration judge, according to the ACLU of Nebraska.
Attorneys argue that Immigration and Customs Enforcement unlawfully denied Angel-Becerril the right to a bond hearing after booking him into the Sarpy County Jail and asserting he was subject to mandatory detention, a classification his attorneys contend is incorrect.
Angel-Becerril was born in Mexico and brought to the United States at approximately 5 years old. He has lived most of his life in Omaha and received DACA status in 2015, maintaining current protection from deportation and valid work authorization.
Before his detention, Angel-Becerril worked at an auto salvage company and a cleaning products company, according to the ACLU.
Despite his DACA status, Angel-Becerril has not been granted a bond hearing before an immigration judge. The ACLU of Nebraska says he is among thousands of immigrants nationwide who have been denied bond hearings following an ICE policy shift asserting that most detained immigrants are subject to mandatory detention and therefore ineligible for bond.
The lawsuit argues that ICE’s refusal to provide a bond hearing violates the Immigration and Nationality Act, as well as a prior federal court ruling that vacated the agency’s mandatory detention policy in a class action case.
Although a federal judge ruled that ICE’s interpretation of mandatory detention was unlawful, attorneys say immigration judges have been instructed by the nation’s top immigration court official to disregard that ruling.
In its filing, the ACLU of Nebraska asks the court to either order Angel-Becerril’s immediate release or require that he receive a bond hearing within seven days.
“I hold on to hope of being released from detention and being reunited with my family. Nebraska is my home,” Angel-Becerril said in a statement released through the ACLU.
ACLU of Nebraska staff attorney Grant Friedman said the case centers on whether ICE is complying with federal law and court orders.
“Our arguments come down to this: ICE cannot opt out of following federal law and court orders,” Friedman said. “Our client is as much a Nebraskan and American as any of us, and he has both protection from being deported and work authorization. He also has a right to a bond hearing under federal immigration law.”
The lawsuit marks the ACLU of Nebraska’s third immigration-related legal challenge in recent weeks. Two earlier suits were filed on behalf of men detained at the immigration detention center in McCook, Nebraska.
In 2025, ACLU litigation and advocacy efforts resulted in the release of several individuals detained following a workplace enforcement operation in Omaha.
Angel-Becerril remains in custody as the case proceeds.
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