Federal Judge Orders Release of Venezuelan Men in ICE Assault Case — ICE Re-Detains Them Immediately
A federal judge confirmed a dramatic legal twist in a high-profile Minnesota immigration case by ordering two Venezuelan men accused of assaulting an immigration officer to be released from pretrial custody but they were immediately re-detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents before ever leaving the courthouse.
The ruling on Tuesday addressed whether the accused men posed a heightened flight risk, a standard federal judges use to decide pretrial release. The Star Tribune reported that the judge concluded they did not, prompting a release order.
Yet the moment the men stepped out of U.S. Marshals custody, ICE agents took them back into federal custody with no public explanation, according to court filings and defense attorneys.
The men, identified in court records as Alfredo Alejandro Ajorna and Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, were among three Venezuelan nationals arrested after a Jan. 14 enforcement operation in north Minneapolis during which an ICE officer fired once, striking Sosa-Celis in the leg amid a struggle.\
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Now, their attorneys have filed an emergency habeas corpus petition, challenging the legality of the re-detention. A judge has barred ICE from removing them from Minnesota and ordered the government to justify its actions by Friday.
“This re-detention is unconstitutional, and they should be immediately released,” one attorney wrote in court filings.
The case underscores ongoing tension between federal immigration enforcement and judicial oversight in Minneapolis, a city where protests and legal battles have intensified around ICE operations.
A ruling on the habeas petition and why ICE re-detained the men is expected by week’s end, which could shape future pretrial detention disputes involving federal agents and accused defendants.
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