'Dreamer' took the wrong exit near the Mexican border — and accidentally self-deported

A recipient of amnesty under the Obama administration had his protected status stripped after he apparently took the wrong exit and accidentally ended up in Mexico.

Erick Hernandez was reportedly driving two people from Los Angeles to the border on June 1 when he missed an exit in San Ysidro and ended up crossing into Mexico by accident. One of the restrictions on recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals amnesty is that they're not allowed to leave the country without prior approval.

'He's afraid of returning to El Salvador. He doesn't know that country. He hasn't been there since he was a kid.'

"When that happened, he lost everything, basically," his attorney, Valerie Sigamani, said to KNSD-TV.

"He no longer has DACA. His attempt to come back to the United States and say, 'This was a mistake. It was an accident. I was not trying to leave the United States,' was ignored," she added.

She says that Hernandez was placed on expedited removal and has since been detained at the Otay Mesa Detention Center.

Hernandez was brought to the U.S. when he was 14 years old, which allowed him to obtain DACA amnesty. He is originally from El Salvador, and his attorney says his parents have legal status in the U.S. His wife says she was trying to help Hernandez obtain legal status after they got married recently.

Hernandez has no criminal history, according to his attorney and his family.

His attorney also claimed that officials from Customs and Border Protection demanded a bribe from him to allow him to return to the U.S. She hopes that his participation in any investigation into the charges may shield him from deportation.

She has filed a report with the FBI, and KNSD reported that CBP did not respond to a request for comment about the accusation.

Blaze News reached out to DHS and ICE for comment and received a statement from a DHS spokesperson.

"DACA does not confer any form of legal status in this country. Any illegal alien who is a DACA recipient may be subject to arrest and deportation," the statement reads.

The spokesperson identified the man as “Erick Hernandez Rodriguez" and referred to him as "an illegal alien from Mexico," though ICE detention records indicate he is an El Salvador native.

The DHS statement said that Hernandez Rodriguez had "self-deported and then tried to illegally re-enter the U.S." and confirmed that he was arrested "as he tried to illegally cross the southern border."

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Sigamani commented on the arrest to Blaze News via email and said Hernandez had accidentally exited the U.S. and had no intention of renouncing his DACA status.

"He did not voluntarily self-deport, he had no idea how close to the border the rideshare trip would take him. He asked Mexican and U.S. officials for help when he realized he was crossing into Mexico. (There is no way to turn around, without causing some sort of accident or vehicular hazard)," read her statement in part.

"Mexican officials led him back to the U.S. customs area, and he explained to officials what occurred," she added, denying that he had tried to illegally re-enter the U.S. "U.S. CBP officials then led him into the United States for inspection after he explained what occurred and told him that they 'understood.'"

Nancy Rivera, the man's wife, says they have one child together and that he has been raising her two prior children. She also is expecting another child with Hernandez.

"I'm just worrying. I'm just worried that he's, if he gets deported, like, how I'm going to manage everything by myself," she said. "It’s just a lot of, you know, stress, anxiety that I have."

Rivera says he's the main breadwinner for the family and that it will be difficult to go on without him.

"He has a lot of hope. He feels like something good is going to happen. He's a person of faith," his attorney said. "But at the same time, he's sad about the entire situation. He's afraid of returning to El Salvador. He doesn't know that country. He hasn't been there since he was a kid, so he has no idea what it's like to live in El Salvador."

Editor's note: This article has been edited after publication to include a comment from the attorney representing Hernandez and for clarity in the headline.

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