KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - Rachel Bonano, an attorney in Knoxville, has filed a habeas corpus petition with the federal court in East Tennessee. The filing says her client, Diego Hernandez Garcia, was wrongfully taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers while working at a Hardin Valley construction site Thursday.

Bonano provided a copy of the petition to WVLT. In it, she said the 24-year-old El Salvador native entered the country more than 10 years ago as a minor without inspection and has been living in Maryville since. According to Bonano, Hernandez Garcia applied for a special juvenile classification in 2019. That classification was granted, the petition says, along with a deferred action order which allows him to stay in the country through May 12, 2026 a

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