SAN FRANCISCO — A rally in support of Miguel Lopez — the Livermore man who was detained during a routine immigration check-in last summer before being deported — was held Tuesday outside a federal courthouse as the father of three waited in Mexico to learn if a judge will grant him a legal path back to the U.S. and his family. The hearing is Lopez’s last chance to legally return to the U.S. “He’s probably biting his nails off trying to figure out what happened,” Rosa Lopez, his wife, told this news organization after the hearing outside Judge Trina Thompson’s Northern California District courtroom in San Francisco. She last saw her husband in February, and said the separation has been a strain on both of them. “He’s having a really hard time out there,” Lopez said. Miguel Lopez has been living at his father’s house in a town outside of Mexico City after federal agents deported him to Mexico in June. His family – including his wife, three children and granddaughter – was joined by about three dozen supporters. Amid chants of “Bring Miguel Home,” Rosa Lopez read a letter at the preceding rally written by Julian Lopez, Miguel Lopez’s youngest son and a Granada High School senior, about his father. “I feel the empty space where he should be,” Rosa Lopez read aloud. “My dad is a good man, and I just want him home to see me graduate.” Miguel Lopez of Livermore. Miguel was deported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Sat., June 7 after being detained in San Francisco on May 27 at the ICE offices. After being held in several detainment facilities throughout California, he was eventually sent to Tijuana where he was handed over to Mexican immigration authorities. (Photo courtesy Lopez family) Tuesday’s hearing centered on whether Miguel Lopez’s permanent resident designation was wrongfully stripped from him in 2014, after an immigration judge granted him the right to stay in the U.S. in 2012. An order for his deportation was issued by the Department of Homeland Security 14 years ago, after Lopez revealed he’d crossed the border without going through proper channels. He was detained by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during a routine check in at a San Francisco ICE facility in May of last year, and deported shortly after. On June 7, 2025, Thompson ordered the government to allow Lopez to stay in the U.S. while he continued to fight his case. But federal agents had already deported him to Mexico — a country he hadn’t returned to for 29 years — just hours prior. Lopez’s attorney, Saad Ahmad, argued in court that Lopez never had an opportunity to argue to the Board of Immigration Appeals that his permanent residency should not be stripped away, and the government never provided a valid reason for revoking it. If Thompson were to send Lopez’s case back to the Board of Immigration Appeals, she could potentially grant him legal grounds to return to the U.S. while he continues to argue his case. Attorney Rachel Browning, representing the government, argued that if Thompson were to do that, the government would likely order his deportation afterward. Ahmad argued in court that it would be a “miscarriage of justice” for the courts to allow Miguel’s deportation without first demanding the government explain why his legal residency was revoked. He told this news organization Tuesday that few people who have been deported get the opportunity that Lopez has to argue their case. “The most important thing in a case is whether a court could even hear it,” Ahmad said. “I think the facts of this case are very unique, and because of those facts I believe we have a chance.” He said he expects Thompson to issue a ruling soon, but it could up to a month before a decision is made. Stephanie Lopez, Miguel Lopez’s daughter, said she believes her family would be made whole again. “Ever since we’ve encountered this judge, I’ve had a pretty good feeling,” she said. “I have hope. I understand it’s a process and we have to be patient.” Rosa Lopez, wife of Miguel Angel Lopez Luvian, a Livermore father who was deported to Mexico in June 2025, speaks during a rally in front of supporters outside of the Phillip Burton Federal Building and United States Court House in downtown San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)