MARYVILLE, TENN. — A Tennessee federal court denied Diego Hernandez Garcia's petition in his deportation case, lifting a stay of enforcement and allowing removal proceedings to resume. The judgment order dismissed his civil claims without prejudice and directed the clerk to close the case, leaving open the possibility of an appeal.

Hernandez Garcia had challenged the termination of his deferred-action status and his subsequent detention, arguing that the government violated his Fifth Amendment due process rights by not providing a hearing before revocation. The court ruled that terminating deferred action, a discretionary benefit, does not violate constitutional due process rights, finding that the executive branch has authority to enforce immigration laws without providing extensive hearings before revoking temporary administrative stays.

Hernandez Garcia was detained during a December 2025 ICE raid at a Knoxville construction site. He had a prior removal order before receiving deferred action status, which was revoked following his arrest by immigration officials. He is being held in a facility in Mason, Tennessee, near Memphis.

Attorney Rachel Bonano responded to the ruling. "We are very disappointed in the Court's decision. We will be looking at our options for what comes next," Bonano said.

Raquel Roy, an advocate from Maryville, is working with his attorneys to explore other options. "We are in the process of doing all kinds of paperwork for him. But now we are just really frustrated because the response just took so long and now we feel like we are on a really big time crunch," Roy said.

Roy said the timing of any removal remains unclear following the court's order. "It could happen today, it could happen next week. Maybe DHS gets the appeal, or holds off to see if there's an appeal. But we literally have no idea," she said.