washingtonpost A rookie immigration officer fresh out of the Trump administration’s abbreviated basic training program made critical errors in paperwork that became the government’s justification for detaining a California man for days in December, federal court records show. The officer, Nolan De Long, was hired by ICE during a recruitment surge that began last summer as the administration pushed for record numbers of arrests and deportations. One of De Long’s first assignments involved arresting Carlos De La Garza, a 55-year-old longtime Berkeley resident, at the end of a routine appointment related to his green card application, court records show. The errors were exposed when De La Garza challenged the legality of his detention in federal court. Attorneys for the government dropped their opposition to his release after discovering their case relied on De Long’s misrepresentations. De Long apologized to De La Garza and the court, saying he understood the “seriousness of this mistake.” De Long had been on the job for less than a month, and it was only the second time he had completed the particular form he bungled, court records show. Read more at the link in our bio. View all 114 comments