A federal judge ruled Friday the Department of Homeland Security must release a 47-year-old father of four whom the government is trying to deport to Laos, a country the man hasn’t seen since he was a toddler.

Alan Phetsadakone left an immigration detention centerin Tacoma on Saturday morning.

Phetsadakone, a lawful permanent resident, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in July during an annual check-in, an appointment he had gone to every year without incident for more than two decades.

U.S. District Court Judge Jamal Whitehead ruled Friday evening that the man should be immediately released from the Northwest ICE Processing Center.

Whitehead wrote in the release order that Phetsadakone’s case raised “serious questions about the Government’s alleged failure t

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