Judge Amy Lee Orders 2024 Murder Victim's Deportation, Citing Missed May 21 Hearing
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jun 3
Judge Amy Lee Orders 2024 Murder Victim's Deportation, Citing Missed May 21 Hearing
1 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jun 3
Summary
Levi Mendez-Maldonado — a Honduran asylum seeker killed in a November 2024 shooting — was ordered removed in absentia on May 21 after failing to appear in Charlotte immigration court.
Becca O’Neill, his lawyer, told Judge Amy Lee at the hearing that her client was dead and presented Charlotte police records, but Lee deemed them insufficient proof and issued an order that did not mention his death.
Federal regulation allows a notice to appear to be canceled in cases including death, and a former ICE chief counsel said the judge could have delayed the decision instead of proceeding.
Charlotte’s immigration court has about 129,000 pending cases and granted relief in roughly 1% of cases in 2025; from 2020 to 2025, Lee denied nearly 90% of 550 asylum cases.
Advocates said they had not seen a deceased immigrant ordered deported in North Carolina in more than 20 years, casting the case as a stark example of a backlogged system they say prioritizes removals over review.
Why did a judge order a dead teenager deported after being shown proof of his murder?
When a court deports the deceased, is it a procedural error or a sign of a dehumanizing system?
86% Removal Rate, 1% Relief: The Human Cost of Charlotte’s Immigration Court Crisis in the Wake of a Deceased Asylum Seeker’s Deportation Order
Overview
This report examines the troubling case where Immigration Judge Amy Lee issued a deportation order for Levi Mendez-Maldonado, a Honduran asylum seeker who had been murdered over a year earlier. The judge found the police records provided as proof of death insufficient, leading the court to treat Levi as if he were still alive and had failed to appear for his hearing. As a result, a removal order in absentia was issued. This incident highlights serious procedural failures and raises questions about due process and the credibility of the immigration court system.