For the father of 3 Marines, justice from an ICE beating | Opinion
On Jan. 28, a federal immigration judge finally threw out the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) deportation case against Narcisco Barranco, the father of three U.S. Marines, who had been arrested and severely beaten while performing his landscaping job at an IHOP in Santa Ana, California.
Barranco’s case became notorious worldwide last June. The arrest, caught on video, showed a small, terrified man trying to run away from a bevy of much-larger Border Patrol agents, who approached him masked, unidentified, guns drawn, before pepper spraying him, punching and beating him relentlessly, and dislocating his shoulder.
Because Barranco was still carrying his weed-whacker, the brutal and thuggish officers claimed they acted in self-defense. No one with eyes believed them. Neither they, nor their bosses, seemed to care. Most Americans, on the other hand, were sickened, embarrassed and enraged. We can scarcely imagine how his sons felt.
The dark part of me wishes his Marine sons would have arrived on the scene quickly enough to defend their hard-working dad. It would have been satisfying to see the Border Patrol bullies scatter – no matter how massive their arsenal. The video showed them to be consumed by the beating they administered. Not at all bothered by the violence they directed at a small, utterly unthreatening, and obviously frightened victim. They seemed to heartily enjoy what they take to be their job. Brutality.
Mr. Barranco, a 49-year-old Mexican national who had been living in the U.S. for over three decades, was transferred to a detention center after the thrashing. No charges were ever filed against him, but deportation proceedings were commenced. He was released on bond in mid-July and fitted with an ankle monitor.
In her order terminating the deportation, Judge Kristin Piepmeier ruled that Barranco had proved he was the father of three American sons in the military, rendering him eligible for lawful status. Immigration officers were required to remove his ankle monitor and his check-ins were discontinued. Barranco’s lawyers helped him apply for the Parole in Place program that shields undocumented parents of U.S. military personnel from deportation and provides an expedited pathway to permanent residency.
Lisa Ramirez, his counsel, said: “I think the American people would agree that no one like Narcisco Barranco, who raised three U.S. citizen Marines and has no criminal record, deserved the treatment he received.”
Barranco said he looks forward to the approval of his residency status. But he only goes out of his house to attend Sunday mass -- “I am still afraid I could be grabbed”.
There’s more.
In a decent government, DHS, knowing what has been proven about Barranco, would apologize and ease his achievement of legal status. Instead, DHS immediately announced it would appeal the decision. Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, who recently announced she is leaving DHS, declared: “the agents took appropriate action and followed their training … that prioritizes the safety of the public and our officers.” It’s a position nearly as loathsome and dishonest as the government-imposed violence itself.
At roughly the same moment, the chief federal judge in Minnesota excoriated Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) saying it had violated nearly 100 court orders stemming from its crackdown in the state and “disobeyed more judicial directives in January alone than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence.”
Judge Patrick Schlitz, a conservative appointed by George W. Bush, wrote: “ICE is not a law unto itself. ICE must follow court orders until they are overturned or vacated. Its list (of violations) should give pause to anyone who cares about the rule of law.”
My own view is that DHS leaders, and their lawyers, like ICE agents, should begin wearing masks, fake military garb, and carrying high-powered weapons as they appear in our courthouses and in the halls of Congress. Just to remind us they are not of America.
Contributing columnist Gene Nichol is a professor of law at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
This story was originally published February 19, 2026 at 4:30 AM with the headline "For the father of 3 Marines, justice from an ICE beating | Opinion."