Earlier this year, multiple reports surfaced indicating that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were receiving shortened training programs as the Trump administration pushed for record numbers of arrests and deportations.
Shortened training left many new recruits unprepared when they hit the field. In a case reported by The Washington Post, federal records reviewed by the outlet show that a freshly trained officer made critical paperwork errors that left a California man detained for days last December.
The officer, identified as Nolan de Long, was hired by ICE last summer, and one of his first assignments involved the arrest of Carlos De La Garza, a 55‑year‑old Berkeley resident who was detained at the end of a routine appointment related to his green card application.
Court records reviewed by The Washington Post revealed that De Long had been on the job for less than a month when he arrested De La Garza, and it was only the second time he had completed the required form. According to a sworn statement filed in court and obtained by the outlet, De Long acknowledged his mistakes and attributed them to a "lack of experience," saying he believed De La Garza's residency application had been denied when it had not.
He also incorrectly reported that De La Garza had admitted to illegally entering the country in 2015. Attorneys for the government dropped their opposition to his release after discovering their case relied on De Long's misrepresentations. De Long apologized to De La Garza and the court, saying he understood the "seriousness of this mistake."
Following the decision, the Department of Homeland Security acknowledged errors in the paperwork but downplayed their significance, emphasizing that De La Garza had a criminal record and had previously been deported multiple times.
"The form was corrected by the officer's supervisor and delivered to his attorney. A clerical error should not stop us from being able to detain and deport criminal illegal aliens who threaten our communities," the statement said.
According to court records, De La Garza first came to the United States from Mexico in the early 1990s. His wife and son, both U.S. citizens, died of illness in recent years. At the time of his arrest, De La Garza had official authorization to work in the U.S. while awaiting the outcome of his application for permanent residency.
His criminal record includes three misdemeanors from the 1990s, expunged drug-related convictions, and a 2014 charge for assaulting a responding police officer during a mental health crisis, according to The Washington Post.
In a statement, De La Garza's immigration attorney, Amalia Wille, said he has taken responsibility for past mistakes and has followed the law in applying for permanent residence. "Mr. De La Garza is a beloved member of his community who has devoted his life to providing loving care for his profoundly disabled U.S. citizen son," Wille said. "DHS illegally arrested him at his green card interview as part of this administration's effort to instill fear in our community and disregard due process."
For reasons not made clear in the filings reviewed by The Washington Post, De La Garza was denied a green card after his release last year, leaving him vulnerable to possible deportation in the future.
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