Protesters gathered Friday outside the Seattle federal courthouse, Friday, Feb. 17, 2017 where a "dreamer" arrested a week before was expected to make his first appearance. Daniel Ramirez Medina, of the Seattle suburb Des Moines, was arrested last Friday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers looking for his father. He has no criminal record.

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Protesters gathered outside a court hearing for a Seattle “dreamer” arrested by immigration agents hit the streets, blocking traffic and marching through downtown.

The 23-year-old at the center of the controversy – Daniel Ramirez Medina, of the Seattle suburb Des Moines – was arrested last Friday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers looking for his father. Ramirez came to the United States as a child and has twice been approved an Obama administration program that allowed him to work without fear deportation.

Ramirez appeared before a federal magistrate in Seattle on Friday morning for a preliminary hearing challenging his arrest. Magistrate judge James P. Donohue ordered that Ramirez remain detained pending an immigration court hearing next week. 

Dozens of demonstrators who had gathered outside the Stewart Street courthouse began marching through downtown Seattle following the decision. The small march continued into Friday afternoon.

MORE ON RAMIREZ: Judge: Seattle 'dreamer' arrested by ICE to remain detained

DACA recipients are often referred to as "dreamers," a name given them during a failed effort to give them permanent legal status through the DREAM Act. Ramirez and hundreds of thousands of other U.S. residents brought to the country illegally as children came forward during the Obama years and now face an uncertain future.

Photo: Daniel Ramirez Medina, AP
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This undated photo provided by the law firm Public Counsel shows Daniel Ramirez Medina, 23, who was was brought to the U.S. illegally as a child but was protected from deportation by President Barack Obama's administration. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Medina on Friday, Feb. 10, 2017, at his father's home, even though he has a work permit under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. (Daniel Ramirez Medina/Public Counsel via AP) less
This undated photo provided by the law firm Public Counsel shows Daniel Ramirez Medina, 23, who was was brought to the U.S. illegally as a child but was protected from deportation by President Barack Obama's ... more
Photo: Daniel Ramirez Medina, AP
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Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officers watch as protesters gather outside US District Court, in Seattle Washington on February 17, 2017, before a hearing for Daniel Ramirez Medina, a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient who was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Ramirez Medina said his arrest -- for the purpose of expulsion -- was a first among people included in the so-called DACA program protecting unauthorized immigrants who were brought to the United States as children. / AFP PHOTO / Jason RedmondJASON REDMOND/AFP/Getty Images less
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officers watch as protesters gather outside US District Court, in Seattle Washington on February 17, 2017, before a hearing for Daniel Ramirez Medina, a Deferred Action for ... more
Photo: JASON REDMOND, AFP/Getty Images
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Protesters gathered Friday outside the Seattle federal courthouse where a "dreamer" arrested a week before was expected to make his first appearance.  

Protesters gathered Friday outside the Seattle federal courthouse where a "dreamer" arrested a week before was expected to make his first appearance.  

Photo: GRANT HINDSLEY/SEATTLPI.COM

Court documents filed challenging Ramirez's detention argued the ICE officers gave no reason for his arrest, other than saying he wasn't "born in this country."

But ICE rebutted that claim in statements and court documents, saying that Ramirez Medina told officers he had been associated with gang members but didn't hang around them anymore.

Ramirez's attorneys argued that the government failed to provide any evidence of the gang ties or Ramirez's admission to them.

"It is a blatant falsehood that defames this young man, I suppose, to justify what was a mistake at the beginning," said Mark Rosenbaum, one of the man's attorneys, of the 23-year-old's arrest and detention by immigration agents last week.

He has been held at Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma since Friday. He is expected to appear in U.S. Immigration Court next week for a hearing that could see him released.

This report contains information from The Associated Press. 

Daniel DeMay covers Seattle culture, business and transportation for seattlepi.com. He can be reached at 206-448-8362 or danieldemay@seattlepi.com. Follow him on Twitter: @Daniel_DeMay.