EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – A federal agency is asking an immigration judge who approved a motion to terminate removal proceedings against activist Catalina “Xochitl” Santiago to recuse himself from the case, and the court to reconsider his decision.
U.S. Border Patrol agents detained Santiago, a beneficiary of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and an immigrant rights activist, as she waited to board a flight at El Paso International Airport on Aug. 3.
She was immediately placed in removal proceedings due to a previous trespassing charge and an arrest on suspicion of drug and drug paraphernalia possession on Aug. 31, 2020. Santiago’s lawyers argued she was never charged with drug offenses. The trespassing charge had to do with peaceful “civil resistance” Santiago engaged in as part of her activism, they said.
Michael Pleters, an El Paso-based federal immigration judge, approved a motion by the lawyers to terminate Santiago’s proceedings on Sept. 8.
The same day, ICE filed objections based on Pleter’s “failure to consider the arguments by the Department of Homeland Security in the case,” an ICE official told Border Report in an email.
ICE attorneys want the judge to recuse himself from the case due to an alleged conflict of interest “as Pleters is married to U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, who has been actively involved in Santiago’s case and has submitted inquires to (Enforcement and Removal Operations) in El Paso on her behalf,” ICE said.
Border Report reached out to Pleters at the El Paso immigration court and was told “he’s not here today.” Staff referred all inquiries to the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR); Border Report left a message there as well.
Escobar’s office said the congresswoman, who represents El Paso, had no involvement in the court case.
“Xóchitl Santiago is a resident of the community and a constituent of (Texas 16th Congressional District). Our office opened a case with a federal agency for her, as we have done for thousands of El Pasoans,” Escobar’s office said in an email to Border Report. “Aside from ICE’s response to us, our office has no other information about or involvement in her court case.“
The agency maintains custody of Santiago, alleging the drug offenses against her are still pending. ICE also said Santiago has an illegal entry on her record dating back to May 2005 in El Paso.
Santiago’s DACA status is set to expire April 29, 2026.
According to the Transaction Records Access Clearinghouse, an oft-cited immigration database, Pleters decided 199 asylum claims between 2019 and 2024 that resulted in a denial rate of 78.9 percent. Pleters granted asylum in 36 cases and other types of relief on six occasions.