The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) says a Memphis-based journalist could be deported within the month, following a failed appeal to an immigration court.

Manuel Duran, who was arrested by police in April for allegedly refusing to leave the area during a protest, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) because of his illegal immigrant status. Duran was denied an appeal by the Board of Immigration Appeals in October following an earlier deportation order by a different immigration judge.

According to the SPLC, Duran’s deportation is “scheduled … in the coming weeks.” (RELATED: 9th Circuit Blocks Trump’s Moves To End DACA)

Yet Duran and the SPLC claim his scheduled deportation is because of his previous criticisms toward local law enforcement and say “his arrest and detention were an effort to suppress his reporting, and that they violate his First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and the press.”

“Manuel Duran is a journalist who was simply doing his job — reporting on the Memphis Police and ICE — when he was unlawfully arrested and summarily sent to a remote ICE detention center in retaliation for him exposing the truth,” said Michelle Lapointe, the acting deputy legal director for the SPLC, in April.

Both also claim the government violated his Fourth Amendment rights as well.

Duran is now hoping for a review of the Board of Immigration Appeals at the 11th Circuit of Appeals.

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