Federal immigration officials appealed a judge's decision to dismiss a deportation case against an undocumented Orange County gardener, who is also the father of three U.S. Marines in Orange County.
Attorney Lisa Ramirez, who represents 48-year-old Narciso Barranco, said the federal government filed the appeal just before the deadline.
"It came on the very last day that was allotted by the judge," Ramirez said.
Following the judge's decision in February, then-Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that her staff would appeal the "lawless" ruling.
"This activist judge's ruling does not change the fact that Narciso Barranco is an illegal alien," she said in February.
Immigration agents arrested Barranco outside an IHOP in Santa Ana last June. Witnesses recorded a video of Barranco screaming in pain as four agents piled on top of him and punched him during the arrest.
Department of Homeland Security officials defended the agents' actions, saying Barranco is "an illegal alien who tried to evade law enforcement." They said a video of the incident shows Barranco swinging a weed whacker at an agent's face and refusing to comply with commands.
Ramirez said the allegations from DHS were not true.
"It was never a factual allegation that the government charged him with, so it was never an issue we had to refute," Ramirez said.
Barranco was held for three weeks before being released on bond with an ankle monitor. While he was able to return home, Barranco said the last nine months have felt like his freedom was taken away because he's afraid of being detained again. He's stopped working and rarely leaves home. While he felt relieved after his case was dismissed, Barranco said the appeal broke his family's heart.
"I felt very sad," Barranco said.
His wife said it's heartbreaking to watch him live in fear.
"I don't know what's going to happen," wife Martha Barranco said in Spanish.
The federal government's appeal also paused Barranco's application for parole in place, a program that allows the immediate relatives of military members to apply for legal status.
"But now, because of the appeal, he will have neither the parole in place nor will his eligibility for his green card move forward," Ramirez said.
Barranco said he came to the U.S. nearly 30 years ago to work hard and to create a better life for his family. Barranco's family said they're holding on to hope and will fight until their father becomes a legal permanent resident of the U.S.