Inocencia Rodríguez will remain at liberty following a victory in federal court

San Juan, P.R. - Inocencia Rodríguez will remain at liberty while her immigration proceedings continue, after Immigration Judge Elvin Talavera Peraza imposed a $5,000 bail this morning. Rodríguez had been released on Friday by order of Judge María Antongiorgi Jordán pending the bail hearing held today.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Puerto Rico hailed as a victory that Inocencia remains with her family and community after the federal government attempted to keep her detained and transfer her outside of Puerto Rico. However, the organization reiterated that she should not have been deprived of her liberty and denounced the bail as excessive and unjustified, especially when there is no evidence whatsoever to indicate that she poses a flight risk.

“We celebrate that Inocencia be able to remain at liberty with her family and community. This victory, however, does not erase the injustice behind her detention nor does it make reasonable a $5,000 bail. Inocencia does not represent a flight risk and she should have never been detained. Imposing a financial burden on her to retain a freedom that the government illegally stripped away only prolongs the harm done and unfairly punishes her and her family,” expressed attorney Annette Martínez Orabona, executive director of the ACLU of Puerto Rico.

Although federal regulations allow for significantly lower bails—starting as low as $1,500—and require an assessment of factors such as flight risk and dangerousness, the judge imposed a $5,000 bail despite there being no evidence of Inocencia representing either of these risks.

The order by Judge Anongiorgi Jordán was issued after Talavera Peraza refused to allow for in-court verification that Rodríguez has both an approved I-130 family-based petition and an I-601A provisional waiver during a custody redetermination hearing. This information is contained in the agency’s own file and, according to the ACLU of Puerto Rico, confirms that her detention was illegal.

Faced with the refusal of the immigration judge and federal prosecutors to confirm this evidence, the ACLU of Puerto Rico once again turned to the Federal Court to request Rodríguez’s immediate release. Alternatively, the organization asked that an emergency hearing or bail hearing be held to halt the ongoing violation of her liberty and right to due process.

“The fact that Inocencia regained her liberty today demonstrates the importance of challenging government abuses and demanding that courts fulfill their responsibility of protecting fundamental rights. However, we cannot normalize that a person who has been illegally detained must give up thousands of dollars to return home,” stated attorney María “Charito” del Rosario García, Inocencia’s immigration lawyer and director of the Immigration Clinic of the UPR School of Law.

“The government must answer to the illegality of this detention and for the ways its officials ignored evidence present in their own files,” added attorney Fermín Arraiza Navas, legal director of the ACLU of Puerto Rico.

Rodríguez was detained on Friday, July 10, 2026 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 has been employed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents across the United States and has resulted in fatal incidents.

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. Their cases represent a mere sample of the experiences undergone by hundreds of immigrants who are part of our communities in Puerto Rico.