Esmerlyn De Jesus Peralta, an undocumented asylum seeker from the Dominican Republic, is on the verge of deportation after he was detained by ICE during what he believed was a routine check-in with immigration officials in Santa Ana. Mekahlo Medina reports for the NBC4 News at 6 p.m. on March 20, 2025.
An undocumented migrant who has lived in Santa Ana for the last three years is on the verge of being deported back to a country he fled because of violence and blames the now-shut-down CBPOne app.
Esmerlyn De Jesus Peralta, an asylum seeker from the Dominican Republic, ended up in an immigration detention cell after showing up to what he thought was a routine check-in with immigration officials.
"I was shocked because he has no criminal record, he had his valid work permit, his social security number, he has got a life here," said Ashely Wang, Peralta's girlfriend.
Peralta fled the Dominican Republic in 2022 fearing violence. He was issued a work permit and social security card, which Wang showed to NBCLA.
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Wang said Peralta had been working with her as a groundskeeper for a residential company in Santa Ana. He also played a minor league baseball player in the Caribbean and was even helping out with Wang’s daughter’s little league team.
But all that changed when the new Trump Administration took office on Jan. 20, according to the couple.
Peralta’s CBPOne app he used for asylum appointments stopped working. The now-disabled Biden-era application was created to process migrants to enter the U.S. in an orderly way and to reduce illegal border crossings.
Peralta says immigration officials told him to come into the Santa Ana office on Feb. 13. When he got there, he was told he missed a detention hearing on Jan. 22, which he knew nothing about because the CBPOne app stopped working.
“The judge said she had told him that the hearing would be January 22nd, 2025 and he didn’t appear to that. But he has paperwork with him that shows his hearing would be for March 25th, so he didn’t know about the hearing date," said Wang.
ICE officials confirmed to NBCLA that Peralta has final orders of removal.
“After exhausting all his due process, there was no legal basis to allow De Jesus to remain in the U.S.” wrote ICE.
Immigration attorney Alma Rosa Nieto, who does not represent Peralta, says the CBPOne app interruption could be a legal recourse.
“He has a right to appeal this," said Nieto. “Because CBPOne was recently canceled and this is what this individual was relying on to connect with ICE to know when his interviews were, I see this would be grounds for him to appeal.”
Nieto added that the abrupt elimination of the app with no notice could also be the basis for an appeal for others who are in similar issues.
Wang said they are appealing to the Board of Immigration Appeals, they even have gathered signatures of support from the community in Santa Ana,
Despite that, Peralta was scheduled for a deportation flight back to the Dominican Republic just a few days ago but was removed. He still doesn’t know why.
NBCLA has reached out to ICE for comment and has yet to hear back.
“He keeps asking for an update and they just tell him they don’t know," said Wang.
For now, Peralta remains in custody in the U.S. as he fights to stay permanently in what he hopes will be his new homeland.
