deportation order – In Charlotte, an immigration judge ordered the deportation of Levi Mendez-Maldonado in absentia on 21 May, even though he had been murdered in November 2024. His lawyer told the court he was dead, yet the judge’s order omitted any mention of his death—leaving
On 21 May in Charlotte, North Carolina, an immigration hearing began with a fact that should have ended the case: Levi Mendez-Maldonado was dead.
His lawyer. Becca O’Neill. told the judge that the young man she was seeking protection for had been killed in a shooting in November 2024. She brought records to prove it, including Charlotte-Mecklenburg police department (CMPD) information. But the court proceeded the way it always does. and the judge signed an order to remove him anyway—deportation “in absentia. ” issued because he did not appear.
Judge Amy Lee ordered the removal of Mendez-Maldonado in absentia on 21 May. The court’s written order states: “Despite the written notification provided. Respondent failed to appear at the hearing. and no exceptional circumstances were shown for the failure to appear. Therefore. the immigration court conducted the hearing in absentia.” In the order obtained by The Guardian. there is no mention of his death.
Mendez-Maldonado, originally from Honduras, came to the United States as an unaccompanied minor at age 17. He was a young father and a mechanic, and his case was still pending asylum and deportation defense when he was murdered in 2024. O’Neill had been preparing to represent him.
In December 2024, she received notice of a preliminary hearing scheduled for 21 May 2026—an early step in a process that can take years. Like all immigrants detained and processed at the border, he was immediately put into deportation proceedings upon arrival.
O’Neill attended the hearing on his behalf. At the beginning of the meeting, she notified Lee of Mendez-Maldonado’s death and presented CMPD records of his death. O’Neill said Lee found those records insufficient proof of death, even though a death certificate was filed in late 2024.
When the judge’s office could not be reached for comment, O’Neill described what happened in the courtroom as almost surreal. The hearing, she said, continued as planned without acknowledging why Mendez-Maldonado was absent.
“The whole thing probably took maybe five minutes. The attorney acted like we were talking about the weather. The judge didn’t take a moment to reorient herself after hearing he was dead.”
O’Neill did not contest the final order. She later called the outcome “the banality of evil,” saying it had become normalized and bureaucratic even after someone has died.
“This is the banality of evil. All of this is so normalized and bizarre. Just a boilerplate order: he didn’t come to court, he didn’t demonstrate good cause. Well, he’s dead. And you know that because you saw a government website saying that he’s dead.”
Stefanía Arteaga, the founder and executive director of Carolina Migrant Network, said the order shows that death doesn’t interrupt deportation machinery.
“It shows that even after death, you can’t escape deportation.”
Advocates say this decision—and the omission of Mendez-Maldonado’s death in official records—further strips dignity from immigrant communities they say have been terrorized during recent federal enforcement efforts. They pointed to federal activity in Charlotte during “Operation Charlotte’s Web.” O’Neill argued that the system is built to dehumanize noncitizens. especially if they are Black or not white. She said the harm does not stop outside detention or at the border.
“The thing is: the entire system is like that. It doesn’t have to just be [Customs and Border Protection] in tactical gear outside of somebody’s home. It’s happening in the courts. These judges and attorneys don’t care.”
The Charlotte immigration court handles cases from North and South Carolina. In 2025, it granted legal relief in roughly 1% of cases. The court currently has a backlog of about 129,000 pending cases, the ninth-largest in the country.
Arteaga said the structure pushes speed and numbers rather than fully understanding what people are facing.
“I just believe this is a numbers game,” Arteaga said. “There’s an emphasis on results rather than fully understanding the scope of the situation.”
Lee’s record, as described in the reporting, has been harsh on asylum seekers. From 2020 to 2025, Lee denied nearly 90% of her 550 asylum cases in Charlotte. The statistics were described as placing her somewhere in the middle of her peers.
O’Neill also said Lee has ordered removals without much flexibility in individual circumstances. She described an earlier case in which Lee ordered a client removed to Ecuador, Guatemala or Honduras. According to O’Neill. her client was Mexican. and the government’s use of third-country asylum agreements meant deporting someone to foreign countries with few or no ties.
O’Neill filed a motion to reconsider, arguing that the client had never been to any of those countries. She said Lee told her to “stop talking” and would not budge on the decision. O’Neill said Lee “does not indulge” any differing feedback.
Paul Hunker. a Dallas-based former Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) counsel turned immigration lawyer. said the judge could have delayed the decision. He referenced federal regulation 239.2, which permits cancellation of a notice to appear in immigration court for several reasons, including death.
Hunker pointed to how enforcement priorities may change under different administrations. He said the Biden administration saw record numbers of immigrants processed at the border. but that he believes the second Trump administration gives agencies “marching orders” to deny as many immigrants relief as possible.
“The administration is putting pressure on ICE attorneys to achieve outcomes [and] never agree to a bond,” Hunker said. “If a person is not a danger to the community, they should be released on a bond. Under the first Trump administration, we would reopen and desist a case. And then an immigrant can go on their merry way, and that’s great. But now ICE won’t do that.”.
O’Neill and Arteaga said they had never encountered a deportation order for a deceased immigrant in more than 20 years working in North Carolina.
They cited one earlier case outside the region: in 2024 in California. 88-year-old Jose Mario Rodriguez Grimaldi faced deportation proceedings three years after he died. The Los Angeles Times reported that the Department of Homeland Security sent multiple notices to the residence he shared with his daughter. The publication also confirmed several similar cases, with at least three more immigration lawyers.
Mendez-Maldonado’s path into the system began with sponsorship. Since he entered alone as a 17-year-old, he needed a US sponsor to be released and given a chance to apply for asylum. His older brother sponsored him and acted as his legal guardian for a year.
O’Neill said Mendez-Maldonado entered through Texas, where his first attorney helped him apply for asylum in May 2024 after he turned 18. He later moved to North Carolina, where O’Neill took over his case. At the time of his death, his asylum case was still pending.
O’Neill said her goals were to help him remain in the US and obtain a green card. She also described how hard the immigration process can be for children navigating it without stable support.
“Levi’s rare in that he had legal representation and free representation,” O’Neill said.
She said most young people do not have that level of help. “I’ve had clients who enter as unaccompanied minors as young as four years old who end up with removal orders because they don’t go to court. ” she said. “How is a four-year-old going to know when their hearing date is?. It’s up to their sponsors, who are often undocumented themselves.”.
In 2025, O’Neill said she had lost contact with Mendez-Maldonado, then called him for months after hearing there might be good news. She said his work permit had been approved. She finally learned from a colleague that he had died in a shooting.
The May hearing would have been Mendez-Maldonado’s first appearance at the Charlotte immigration court—a chance to convince the US government that he deserved to stay.
CMPD’s homicide unit confirmed to The Guardian that the investigation into his death is still open, but did not provide further details.
Now, the case is stuck on paper. An immigration court order dated 21 May directs his removal “in absentia. ” even though the person at the center of it was already gone. For his lawyer and the advocates tracking the case. the decision is less about procedure than about what the system chooses to recognize—and when it refuses to.
Levi Mendez-Maldonado Amy Lee immigration judge deportation in absentia Charlotte immigration court asylum case Honduras Becca O'Neill Carolina Migrant Network Operation Charlotte's Web CMPD homicide unit