The father of a former U.S. Marine and longtime Oceanside resident reunited with his family in the U.S. on Thursday — two days after a San Diego federal judge ordered his immediate return, nearly a year after he was deported to Mexico.
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Esteban Ríos, 57, walked back into the U.S. through the San Ysidro PedEast border crossing, where his oldest son, Steve, greeted him with a big hug and kiss.
“I felt an emotion that I can’t put into words,” Ríos said as he set foot in San Diego again. “I’m happy to be back home.”
Ríos was arrested and then deported last year following a visit to his then-pregnant daughter at Camp Pendleton.
He and his wife, Luisa Rodríguez, were given ankle monitors and asked to return for a check-in appointment with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at a later date. The couple was then arrested again, and Ríos was deported, while Rodríguez was later released from custody.
At the time, they both had pending U nonimmigrant status cases, which are granted to victims of certain crimes.
In late July, Ríos filed a habeas corpus petition, alleging that his deportation violated his due process rights. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Janis Sammartino granted the petition, ruling that Ríos must be restored to his previous immigration status and be “entitled to all the rights and benefits afforded to him pursuant to his deferred action as if his October 2025 removal never occurred.”
“(I’m) very relieved that we got this order that allowed for Mr. Ríos to return, and relieved that the return went relatively smoothly so he’s on his way home with his family,” said his attorney, Monika Langarica, deputy legal director at the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law.
“I hope that this will help other people who find themselves in a similar situation,” she added.
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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not respond Thursday to a request for comment.
The federal agency claimed in October, after Ríos’s deportation, that he had a criminal history. Ríos later said that he had been accused of domestic violence in the past, but the charges were dropped. In addition, he denied charges related to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, claiming that he had been mistaken for someone else in the past and that the charge was likely a similar mistake. He did acknowledge a previous deportation, and said he came back to be with his family.
His wife filed a petition for a U visa following an attack she suffered years ago, which Ríos witnessed. The case is still pending, and Ríos is a derivative of it.
Since the court ruling, the family has eagerly awaited Ríos’ return. After his deportation, he lived in the Mexican state of Veracruz.
“I couldn’t sleep last night. I haven’t eaten anything; I lost my appetite,” said Rodríguez, describing the hours before she reunited with her husband. “As soon as I saw him, I thought I was going to faint.”
Steve Ríos, a former U.S. Marine, expressed his nervousness during the more than two hours he waited outside the port of entry to embrace his father once more. “I’ve been stressed all morning,” he said. “But he’s finally here.”
Esteban Ríos said that he never lost hope of coming back to his family. Now, he said, he can’t wait to meet his grandson, whose birth he missed. “I’ve seen photos of him, but it’s not the same as finally holding him,” he said.
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