An immigration judge in Charlotte ordered the deportation of a young man who had been dead for over a year, signing a removal order that made no mention of his death and cited only his failure to appear in court.
Levi Mendez-Maldonado, a 19-year-old from Honduras who came to the United States as an unaccompanied minor at age 17, was killed in a shooting in November 2024. On May 21 of this year, Judge Amy Lee of the Charlotte immigration court proceeded with his scheduled hearing and issued an order for his removal in absentia, even after his attorney appeared in court and presented police records documenting his death. The order, obtained by the Guardian, contains no reference to his death whatsoever.
What happened in the courtroom
Becca O’Neill, a lawyer with the Carolina Migrant Network, had been preparing to represent Mendez-Maldonado in his asylum case before his death. When she received notice of the May 21 hearing in December 2024, she attended on his behalf and immediately informed the judge that her client had died. She presented records from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department confirming the shooting.
Judge Lee found the police records insufficient as proof of death, even though a death certificate had been filed in late 2024. The hearing continued without pause. The entire proceeding lasted roughly five minutes. The federal prosecutor and the judge moved through the case as though the information O’Neill had provided had not been shared at all…