Last Updated 4 weeks by Amnon J. Jobi | Amnon Front Page

BROWNSTOWN, Ind. (WISH) — An undocumented immigrant is being deported under the Laken Riley Act that President Donald Trump recently signed into law.

The law deports immigrants charged with certain types of crime.

When Domingo Juan Juan came to the Jackson County Judicial Center on Feb. 12 for his bench trial he walked through security and asked the Jackson County prosecutor where to go. The prosecutor, recognizing who he was, alerted the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents who were here to arrest him.

At a news conference Monday, U.S. Rep. Erin Houchin, R-Indiana, said, “He’s a problem for Guatemala now.”

Houchin says Domingo Juan Juan has previously been deported from the United States. “He actually had been deported under a prior administration and then came back under the Biden administration.”

In March, Juan Juan crossed the centerline of U.S. 50 near Seymour and hit 27-year-old Brad Castner head-on, killing him.

At Monday’s news conference, his sister Kendra Castner said, “Brad was amazing. He was the best brother, the best uncle that you could have. He was so kind and sweet to everybody. Everybody loved him.”

Jackson County Prosecutor Jeff Chalfant also spoke at the news conference. “Domingo Juan Juan was not speeding, or under the influence of alcohol, or drugs. Under Indiana law the only charge available to me is operating a vehicle without ever receiving a license.”

Court records show Juan Juan had two previous charges for driving without ever getting a license. “My office gave this man pretrial diversion both times due to confusion over his identity,” Chalfant said.

Driving a car without ever getting a license is a misdemeanor.

The Laken Riley Act targets undocumented immigrants who are charged with more serious crimes, “including burglary, theft, assaulting law enforcement officer and crimes that result in serious bodily injury, or death,” Chalfant said.

Because Brad Castner died in the car crash, that was how the Laken Riley Act could be used on Juan Juan.

Now, ICE will deport him to Guatemala.

Brad Castner’s sister said, “We can’t control what happens to him there. We can only hope what happens to him there, but at least he’s not here. We know what he would be doing here. He’d be out in 30 days back driving again and somebody else could get hurt that way and we don’t want that to happen, so I think that’s most important.”