Judge orders return of Raleigh immigrant removed in disputed case

A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to facilitate the return of Jose Eliezer Martinez-Andino, the 20-year-old Honduran immigrant who had been living with family in Raleigh before immigration officers removed him from the country.

U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell said Martinez-Andino was “removed from this country in a manner that boggles the mind” and wrote that he had “seemingly disappeared” as he was moved through at least six detention centers in different states over roughly 10 days. Court filings said he was not allowed to contact his attorneys for more than ten days, a stretch the judge described as stripping him of meaningful due process.

Martinez-Andino was apprehended on March 18 while traveling in Montana and was deported to Honduras on April 13. The court record says he had been told voluntary departure was his only option while in detention, and that he signed an agreement before being sent out of the country. The Department of Homeland Security disputed that account, saying he had been released into the country earlier and later left voluntarily.

The case has deep roots in Raleigh. Martinez-Andino entered the United States in 2020 at age 14 as an unaccompanied minor, later lived with family in Raleigh, and had his removal proceedings dismissed in 2023 after immigration officials found a valid Special Immigrant Juvenile visa application. He has no criminal history, and court filings say he has a 3-year-old U.S. citizen daughter who depends on his work authorization.

The emergency matter, Martinez-Andino v. Mullin, was heard in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia before Howell. Her order put the spotlight on how a person can move through the immigration system while relatives and lawyers lose track of where he is, a breakdown with direct consequences for families in Raleigh and across Wake County.

For local attorneys and immigrant households, the ruling also raised a practical question: what happens when federal custody moves so fast that a resident can vanish from contact altogether. In this case, Howell signaled that the court saw the removal as serious enough to require an affirmative effort to bring Martinez-Andino back to the United States.