On Wednesday, Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan denied an emergency appeal from four Mexican nationals who were facing deportation.
The appeal sought a temporary block on their removal so that they could file a formal petition for review.
Justice Kagan made her decision without comment and did not refer the matter to her colleagues on the Supreme Court.
The petitioners, including Fabian Lagunas Espinoza, Maria Angelica Flores Ulloa, and their two sons, were ordered to report to immigration authorities on April 17. Their legal team argued that the family would face violent retaliation from drug cartels if sent back to Mexico.
According to their court filing, the family fled Guerrero, Mexico, in 2021 after they were threatened by members of the Los Rojos cartel. The petition revealed that cartel members demanded that the family leave their home within 24 hours, or they would be killed.
The petition also included accounts of prior violence against extended family members, including physical assaults and threats for not cooperating with the cartel.
The family had entered the U.S. unlawfully and sought asylum, but their claims were denied by an immigration judge. This decision was later upheld by the Board of Immigration Appeals in November 2023.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals also affirmed the decision in February 2025. A temporary stay of their removal was lifted on April 7.
In their emergency appeal to Justice Kagan, the petitioners argued that the lower courts and immigration authorities had not properly considered their evidence or claims of due process violations.
Under Supreme Court procedures, each justice is assigned to handle emergency appeals from a specific circuit. Since Justice Kagan is the justice assigned to the Ninth Circuit, she had the authority to decide on the appeal herself or refer it to the full court.
Kagan denied the application without referring the case further to the full court.
The petitioners’ attorney, LeRoy George Siddell, wrote in their filing that the family was facing imminent deportation, despite credible evidence and detailed testimony showing they were targets of cartel violence.
He emphasized that their refusal to cooperate with the cartel had led to threats against their lives.
The Department of Justice had not responded to the application before Kagan made her decision.
As of Thursday morning, the petitioners were required to report to U.S. immigration authorities. The outcome of their case remains uncertain.