A green card applicant was unlawfully detained after an ICE agent, who had only been on the job for one month, made a critical paperwork error. A federal judge ruled Carlos De La Garza’s initial detention unlawful on March 9, after he challenged his arrest in federal court.
The incident began when ICE agent Nolan De Long, based in California, misunderstood immigration jargon on an I-213 form, a record used for a deportable or inadmissible immigrant. While filling it out, he accidentally included sample language from another case and failed to delete it.
According to Newsweek, this copy-paste error led to the incorrect conclusion that De La Garza’s green card application had been denied, resulting in his arrest in Berkeley on December 1, 2025, right after a routine appointment.
Shortened ICE training raises serious concerns about agent readiness in the field
This mistake connects directly to the Trump administration’s rapid recruitment push last summer, which cut ICE agent training by about 200 hours. Lawmakers from both parties in Congress had raised concerns that new recruits would not have enough preparation before going into the field.
De La Garza first came to the U.S. from Mexico in the early 1990s. After two deportations in 1994 and 1996, he returned, bought a home in Berkeley, and started a family with his wife and son, both U.S. citizens, both of whom have since passed away. He told immigration officials he would be heartbroken if he could not visit their graves.
He had misdemeanors from the 1990s, an expunged drug conviction, and a 2014 charge of assaulting a police officer during a mental health crisis, which DHS said involved a firearm. He served five years’ probation and faced no further charges.
Despite his declared criminal history, USCIS processed his application and granted it in 2004. After his wife’s death in 2020, he became his severely disabled son’s full-time caregiver and applied again for residency in 2024. His son died in August 2025.
When De La Garza challenged his arrest, the government initially argued mandatory detention was required. They later withdrew that argument after De Long admitted his inexperience caused the error and apologized to the court and to De La Garza. The Trump administration’s deportation policies have also sparked a major human rights crisis in El Salvador, where a harsh prison system has swallowed those sent back.
His attorney, Judah Lakin, stated: “Now that we have secured his liberty we will do everything we can to keep him in the United States where he belongs and desires to be. As the story makes clear he is eligible for a green card and instead of granting his permanent residency the government decided to illegally arrest him and then place him in removal proceedings.”
Separately, a billionaire who donated $1 million to Trump’s PAC then filed to run for Georgia governor has drawn attention over suspicious poll numbers that followed. Questions remain about DHS’s shortened training program.
About 1,300 new hires received a shorter program than the agency previously delivered, and another 3,000 with reported law enforcement experience got an even shorter one. De La Garza’s green card application was denied following his release, and it remains unclear whether he will successfully challenge that ruling.
Published: Mar 18, 2026 05:00 pm