Federal judge orders immediate release of Dominican immigrant illegally detained by ICE

San Juan, P.R. - This afternoon, Judge María Antongiorgi Jordán ordered the immediate release of Inocencia Rodríguez, a Dominican immigrant illegally detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. Moreover, she ordered that a bail hearing be held on or before July 21.

The decision comes two days after immigration judge Elvin Talavera Peraza refused to allow in-court verification of Rodríguez’s approved I-130 family-based petition and I-601A provisional waiver during a custody redetermination hearing. This information is included in the federal agency’s own file and, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Puerto Rico, proves that her detention was illegal. In light of these facts, the ACLU of Puerto Rico had once again turned to the Federal Court in Puerto Rico with an urgent motion.

“The order issued by Judge Antongiorgi Jordán represents a necessary intervention to protect the due process of Inocencia and of all people in the face of discriminatory public policy that is enforced on the fringes of the law,” stressed attorney Fermín Arraiza Navas, legal director of the ACLU of Puerto Rico.

“It is important to point out that the order stems from the bad faith of an immigration judge and the prosecutors of the federal government, both of which refused to confirm in court the undeniable fact that Inocencia should have never been detained,” he maintained.

The order issued by Antongiorgi mandates that Inocencia be released “immediately” pending a bail hearing. “If the respondents fail to grant the petitioner a bail hearing in conformity with Section 1226(a) as ordered herein, or if said hearing is dismissed for a lack of jurisdiction, the petitioner should be released immediately from detention,” she held.

Talavera Peraza’s action came after Judge Antongiorgi halted the immediate transfer of Rodríguez outside of the jurisdiction of Puerto Rico that same day, warning of the potential illegality of the detention, as raised by the ACLU of Puerto Rico in a legal filing submitted earlier this week to the Federal Court in Puerto Rico.

On Wednesday, an urgent motion issued by the organization requested that, given the illegality of Rodríguez’s detention and the immigration judge’s decision to not hold a bail hearing, Judge Antongiorgi should order her immediate release, or alternatively, hold an emergency hearing and/or bail hearing before the District Court to halt the continuous violation of liberty and due process of the petitioner.

“When the government illegally detains a person and ordinary mechanisms fail to protect their rights, federal courts have a duty to intervene. No one should be deprived of their liberty while the government itself refuses to verify information contained in their own files. We will continue to defend Inocencia and all immigrants whose rights are being violated in Puerto Rico,” stated attorney Annette Martínez Orabona, executive director of the ACLU of Puerto Rico.

Rodríguez was detained on Friday, July 10, 2027, during an aggressive multi-vehicle operation carried out by at least eight individuals at a checkpoint in Guaynabo. At the time of detainment, she operated a vehicle registered under her name with the Department of Transportation and Public Works and no local authority had ordered a vehicular stop. This method of illegal and violent detainment employed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents has resulted in the death of at least three individuals in Texas, Maine, and Florida.

The ACLU of Puerto Rico, together with the Immigration Clinic of the UPR School of Law and the Legal Assistance Clinic of the Interamerican University School of Law, has represented ten immigrants—including Inocencia Rodríguez—whose basic rights have been violated and who represent a sample of the challenges faced by hundreds of immigrants in our archipelago.