He visited his grandpa's grave in Mexico. The U.S. blocked his return

By Lisa Rodriguez,

Byron J. Love

Published May 9, 2025 at 4:00 AM CDT

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A Roeland Park man legally protected under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals was not allowed to reenter the United States after visiting a family grave in Mexico. He's now back on U.S. soil, after he sued the Trump administration. Hear what Evenezer Cortez Martinez has to say about his experience.

Cortez Martinez and his attorney Rekha Sharma-Crawford spoke with KCUR's Nomin Ujiyediin about the deportation and lawsuit.

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Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Byron Love and KCUR Studios, and edited by Madeline Fox, Emily Younker and Gabe Rosenberg.

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Lisa Rodriguez

Kansas City needs journalists who show up not just on people’s worst days, but on their best ones — and the boring ones in between. I build relationships across the metro, so our newsroom can bring you critical information when times are tough, and seek out moments of joy to celebrate. Email me at lisa@kcur.org.

See stories by Lisa Rodriguez

Byron J. Love

As an on-demand producer, I am focused on using my skills and experiences across multiple digital applications, platforms and media fields to create community focused audio, video and on-demand products for KCUR Studios. The media that I produce aims to inform, entertain and connect with the Kansas City metro area as we continue to learn from each other. Email me at byronlove@kcur.org.

See stories by Byron J. Love

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