A federal judge impugned last year by President Donald Trump because of his Mexican heritage has been selected to hear a case involving the recent deportation of a young man protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

Judge Gonzalo Curiel of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California will oversee a lawsuit filed on behalf of 23-year-old Juan Manuel Montes Bojorquez and decide whether federal officials must turn over information about the deportation to his lawyers.

Curiel, who was born in Indiana, previously oversaw lawsuits brought by former students of Trump University who argued the program was a sham. At the time, Trump accused the judge of being biased against him because of his “Mexican heritage” and the fact that Trump, as a presidential candidate, had called for building a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico.

Trump also brought up Curiel's belonging to a Latino lawyers' association in saying that Curiel had “an absolute conflict.”

Notable Republicans criticized Trump after his remarks, with House Speaker Paul Ryan calling the claim of bias because of Curiel's Mexican heritage "sort of like the textbook definition of a racist comment."

Curiel recently approved a $25 million settlement to put three lawsuits involving Trump University to rest.

Montes Bojorquez claims he was deported "on or about" Feb. 18 despite his active DACA status, which provides protection to immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children.

The Department of Homeland Security has disputed that claim. In a statement released Wednesday, the agency said Montes Bojorquez had violated his status by voluntarily crossing the border and then was arrested Feb. 19 after re-entering the U.S. illegally.