Lawyers for Seattle 'dreamer' again seek his release

SEATTLE -- Lawyers for a Mexican man detained by immigration officials despite his participation in a program designed to protect those brought to the U.S. illegally as children are once again asking for his release.

They planned to ask U.S. Magistrate Judge James Donohue to free 23-year-old Daniel Ramirez Medina at a hearing Wednesday in Seattle. Donohue has already once declined to release him, and the Justice Department says his case belongs in immigration court, not U.S. District Court.

Ramirez was arrested Feb. 10 by immigration agents who initially arrived to detain his father. He has no criminal history and twice passed background checks to participate in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

Agents said he admitted being involved with gangs. His lawyers say that's false, and they want the federal court to rule that his detention violates his constitutional rights.