Dead but deportable: US immigration judge signed order to eject teen murder victim

North Carolina judge said Levi Mendez-Maldonado failed to show up in court – even after being told he had died in 2024

An immigration judge in Charlotte, North Carolina, recently ordered the deportation of a young man who was killed in 2024, citing his failure to appear in court.

Judge Amy Lee ordered the removal of Levi Mendez-Maldonado in absentia on 21 May. Mendez-Maldonado, originally from Honduras, came to the United States as an unaccompanied minor at age 17 and was murdered in a shooting in November 2024.