HOUSTON – A federal judge has ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement to release one of the men detained after ICE agents shot and killed a driver in Houston’s Magnolia Park neighborhood.
Jose Trinidad Rojas Pliego was a passenger in the vehicle driven by Lorenzo Salgado Araujo during the deadly July 7 encounter.
In a five-page order signed Monday, U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison granted Pliego’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus and denied the federal government’s request for summary judgment.
This comes less than a week after the judge blocked Pliego from deportation.
ICE must release Pliego within 48 hours of the order.
“You’re always hopeful that this is going to be the result,” said Raed Gonzalez, the Houston immigration attorney representing Pliego and another witness Daniel Tirado Pantoja in the federal proceedings. “We were hopeful, but definitely really happy.”
The federal government argued Pliego was subject to mandatory detention under federal immigration law because he entered the country without being legally admitted or paroled.
Ellison agreed that the mandatory detention statute applies to Pliego under a recent Fifth Circuit ruling. However, the judge found that applying the law to Pliego without considering his individual circumstances violates his Fifth Amendment right to due process.
“The Due Process Clause does not permit the government to ‘detain any noncitizen, no matter how long they have actually lived in the United States, for any length of time, without any individualized justification,’” Ellison wrote, quoting an earlier ruling.
Gonzalez said courts have issued conflicting decisions over whether immigrants in similar circumstances are entitled to bond hearings and whether mandatory detention violates due process.
He said the shifting legal landscape left Pliego’s legal team hopeful but uncertain about how the judge would rule.
“The due process clause, according to the judge, does not allow the government to detain noncitizens, especially individuals who have been here for so many years and have so many ties to the community,” Gonzalez said.
The order states that Pliego has lived continuously in the United States for nearly 30 years. He has no criminal history, is in a common-law marriage with a U.S. citizen and has multiple children and stepchildren who are U.S. citizens.
Pliego was on his way to work July 7 when ICE officers stopped the vehicle in which he was riding, according to the order.
Agents shot and killed Salgado Araujo before taking Pliego and two other men, Tirado Pantoja and Victor Salgado Araujo, into ICE detention.
He has remained in ICE custody without an individualized bond determination.
Ellison said the concern was not simply how long Pliego had already been detained, but the possibility that his detention could continue indefinitely as his immigration case moves through the courts.
The judge noted that removal proceedings can take years and said Pliego’s pending U-visa application could further complicate the case.
Pliego applied for the U-visa as a possible victim of a crime based on the circumstances surrounding the ICE shooting. The Harris County District Attorney’s Office is supporting that application, according to the order.
The judge also said Pliego may be eligible to seek cancellation of removal because of his lengthy time in the United States, lack of a criminal record and U.S.-citizen relatives who could face hardship if he were removed.
The judge ordered ICE to release Pliego in a public location within the Southern District of Texas and notify his attorney of the time and location at least three hours beforehand.
ICE must also return all of Pliego’s personal property, including his driver’s license, passport or other identification documents.
If the government attempts to detain Pliego again while his removal case is pending, it must first provide notice and hold a hearing before an immigration judge.
At that hearing, the government would have to prove by clear and convincing evidence that Pliego is a flight risk or a danger to the community.
The government must file an update with the federal court by July 30 detailing the status of Pliego’s release and whether it complied with the judge’s order.