(CN) - An immigration judge overlooked significant evidence that a Mexican immigrant's deportation would be a "disaster" for his two children, who are U.S. citizens with severe medical conditions.
Juan Manuel Mendez and his wife both entered the United States illegally and had two children in the country. Their daughter has severe asthma that requires frequent hospitalization, and their son was diagnosed with a reflux condition that may lead to kidney or liver failure.
According to Mendez, there are no doctors in his Mexican village and few in the surrounding region. He claimed he would be unable to pay for his children's medical treatment or education in Mexico. His son is allegedly in an honors program in the United States and wants to be a doctor, lawyer or police officer.
In short, Mendez said his deportation would be a "disaster" for his kids.
The New York-based federal appeals court ruled that the immigration judge "totally overlooked" evidence that the petitioner's deportation would cause "exceptional and extremely unusual hardship" for his children.
The court added that the immigration judge had "mischaracterized" the record "to an extent amounting to errors of law."
It granted Mendez's petition for review and remanded.
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