A West Texas judge has ordered the release of two undocumented Venezuelan migrants after the government failed to prove they were a part of the Tren de Aragua gang, according to Roger Parloff, the senior editor at Lawfare.
U.S. District Judge David Briones made the ruling Friday ordering the immediate release of Julio Cesar Sanchez Puentes and Luddis Norelia Sanchez Garcia from a federal detention facility in El Paso.
“It is further ordered respondents Angel Garite, Mary De-Anda-Ybarra, Todd Lyons, Kristi Noem, and Pam Bondi are ENJOINED from detailing or re-detaining Petitioners Julio Cesar Sanchez Puentes and Luddis Norelia Sanchez Garcia so long as their Temporary Protected States remains valid under law, and therefore both Petitioners SHALL BE IMMEDIATELY RELEASED from custody,” Briones wrote.
Briones found the allegations against the Washington, D.C., couple were based on “multiple levels of hearsay, hidden within declarations of declarants who have no personal knowledge about the facts they are attesting to.”
In a statement to USA TODAY, the couple's attorney, Chris Benoit, said: "We are thrilled that Cesar and Norelia will finally be able to go home and be reunited with their children."
"We are grateful for the Court's careful consideration of all the issues and delighted to see this thoughtful, well-reasoned decision ordering their release," the attorney continued. "There was no basis for any of the accusations the government was making against them, and the ordeal they have been through is tremendous."
Appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1994, the 82-year-old Briones is no stranger to stopping President Donald Trump’s agenda.
During the first Trump administration, Briones blocked the government from using federal military funds for the border wall in 2019.