Dead but deportable: US immigration judge signed order to eject teen murder victim

• 01Judge Amy Lee ordered the deportation of Levi Mendez-Maldonado in absentia on May 21, 2026, despite his death in November 2024.
• 02Mendez-Maldonado was from Honduras, arrived in the United States as an unaccompanied minor at age 17, and was murdered in a shooting in November 2024.
• 03Becca O'Neill, a lawyer with the Carolina Migrant Network, attended the May 21 hearing and notified Judge Lee of Mendez-Maldonado's death, presenting Charlotte-Mecklenburg police department records.
• 04According to O'Neill, Judge Lee found the CMPD records insufficient as proof of death, despite a death certificate being filed in late 2024.
• 05The court order stated: 'Despite the written notification provided, Respondent failed to appear at the hearing, and no exceptional circumstances were shown for the failure to appear,' with no mention of his death in the order.
• 06The Charlotte immigration court granted legal relief in roughly 1% of cases in 2025 and currently has a backlog of approximately 129,000 pending cases.
• 07From 2020 to 2025, Judge Lee denied nearly 90% of her 550 asylum cases in Charlotte.
• 08Federal regulation 239.2 permits the cancellation of a notice to appear in immigration court for several reasons, including death, according to Paul Hunker, a former ICE chief counsel.

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A Charlotte, North Carolina immigration judge ordered the deportation of Levi Mendez-Maldonado in absentia on May 21, 2026, despite his death in November 2024. When the defendant's attorney presented police records and notification of his death at the hearing, Judge Amy Lee proceeded with the hearing anyway, finding the documentation insufficient proof, and issued a deportation order that made no mention of his death. The case highlights concerns about efficiency in immigration courts, which are processing high caseloads with low relief rates.