A federal judge has denied a pregnant Columbus woman's request for a temporary restraining order that would, for a time, prevent her from being deported.
Carmen Guerrero Sandoval is a citizen of El Salvador. She also has a 9-year-old child who was born in the U.S.
A Cleveland immigration court had ordered Sandoval to report for deportation on June 3.
She filed suit on Monday to prevent being deported, arguing that being removed is cruel and unusual punishment and without due process, violating her constitutional rights.
U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus Jr. wrote in his opinion Thursday that the court lacks authority to issue such an order under federal and case law.
Sargus cited a federal law that says, generally, federal courts do not have jurisdiction to hear any cause or claim by or on behalf of a non-citizen arising from the decision or action by the Attorney General to execute removal orders.
Sargus also cited a U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decision that "precludes a federal court from reviewing and ultimately canceling the removal of a parent based on the alleged violations of a citizen child’s constitutional rights outside of the petition for review."
"Although the full facts surrounding Ms. Guerrero Sandoval’s potential deportation are unclear at this point, the situation no doubt brings stress and potential harm to her family," Sargus wrote. "But federal law and Sixth Circuit precedent are clear that this Court cannot issue an order blocking the potential deportation based on the rights asserted here."
Sargus' opinion said that Guerrero Sandoval's lawyer represented that she has appealed the Immigration Court’s order to the Board of Immigration Appeals.
