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, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/northcarolina">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 https://www.charlottenc.gov/cmpd/News-Information/Newsroom/Case-Update-Homicide-Investigation-in-the-Westover-Division-3">murdered in a shooting in November 2024.