Deported Livermore Father Loses Case On Technicality

LIVERMORE, CA — A federal judge shut down the case of a Livermore man deported to Mexico last year, according to reports.

Miguel Lopez, a 27-year Livermore resident who worked as a welder and machinist at Wente Vineyards and raised a family, was detained on his way to an immigration check-in in San Francisco in May 2025. He filed a legal claim alleging that a 2014 immigration decision violated his right to due process, according to reporting from The Livermore Vine. However, a judge denied the motion because he did not file the suit within the six-year statute of limitations.

“Current law persuaded [Lopez] to channel his claims through a bureaucratic labyrinth which deprives so many Americans-to-be of a prompt remedy when agencies inevitably make mistakes. Such obstacles impose heavy burdens on all noncitizens seeking permanent status in this country,” Judge Trina Thompson wrote. “Yet, misplaced foresight, delays, and unforeseen circumstances cost an entire family financial stability and will result in generational trauma,”

Lopez was deported to Mexico in June, just hours before Thompson issued an order that would have allowed him to stay in the country and fight his case. Since then, he has been living with his father in Mexico City, according to the Mercury News and Independent News.

“I don’t have words, honestly,” Miguel’s wife Rosa told the Mercury News during a phone interview when she received the news that the motion was denied. “It feels like the world just fell on top of me again.”

Still, Saad Ahmad, Lopez’s attorney, said he plans to challenge the decision in appeals court, with the hopes that it will be remanded to the district court.

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