Thread by @mattkatz00

Biden's ICE supposedly changed its priorities for deportation, with only recent arrivals, national security threats, and those convicted of aggravated felonies prioritized for removal. (ice.gov/doclib/news/re…)

So why is Mario Mateo of NJ being deported? A thread: 1/

Mateo has lived in the U.S. for 13 years. He has a U.S. citizen wife & 2 citizen children. He has never been convicted of a crime. He has had charges filed against him 3 times involving domestic disputes, but all were dismissed in municipal court, according to legal filings. 2/

Mateo was locked up by ICE in 2019 after leaving a court appearance. He was held at the Essex County jail in Newark, and is now in Louisiana, from where he's expected to be flown to his home country of Guatemala. He hasn't seen his family in more than a year. 3/

Mateo was the breadwinner for his family, who have since been evicted from their Trenton home because they couldn't afford rent. His daughter has a severe medical condition that he says she wouldn't be able to get treatment for in Guatemala. 4/

ICE didn't answer my questions about how Mateo, with no criminal "convictions," as the ICE memo specifies, fits into the Biden Administration's new priorities. They only told me this: 5/

But ICE's Newark field director, John Tsoukaris -- who served under Trump and hasn't been replaced -- told Mateo's attorney that the new Biden Administration guidance doesn't explicitly "prohibit" deportations of non-criminals. He also cites his (dismissed) criminal charges. 6/

According to data from the Essex County jail, Mateo is 1 of 6 ICE detainees to leave the jail on Tuesday. ICE doesn't give info about whether those are deportations or releases, but Tuesdays are known as Deportation Day. I'll update with more info when I get it... 7/