A federal decide has ordered the U.S. Division of Homeland Safety to not deport a witness within the deadly taking pictures of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo by a federal immigration agent earlier this month in Houston.
U.S. District Decide Keith P. Ellison issued the directive on Monday after an lawyer for Jose Trinidad Rojas Pliego, a passenger in Salgado Araujo’s van in the course of the taking pictures, filed a petition in search of his launch from immigration detention.
The order additionally stated Rojas Pliego can’t be transferred to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility outdoors of the Southern District of Texas whereas the petition is pending with out the court docket’s permission.
DHS, which oversees ICE, didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Rojas Pliego, a Mexican citizen, has lived in the US since 1998 and has no legal document, in keeping with his petition. The submitting added that he’s in a typical legislation marriage with a U.S. citizen, with whom he has three kids and 4 stepchildren — all of whom are additionally U.S. residents.
Rojas Pliego has been in ICE custody for the reason that July 7 taking pictures. The petition, filed on Monday, says he’s detained within the Montgomery ICE Processing Heart in Conroe, north of Houston.
“Petitioner is neither a flight danger nor a hazard to the group,” the submitting stated.
The 2 different passengers within the van — Daniel Tirado Pantoja and Salgado Araujo’s brother Victor Hugo Salgado Araujo — have additionally filed related petitions in search of launch from ICE detention.
Tirado Pantoja got here to the U.S. from Mexico in 1996 and likewise has no legal historical past, in keeping with his petition. He’s additionally in a common-law marriage with a authorized everlasting resident — generally often known as a inexperienced card holder. He has a son and a stepdaughter, each of whom are U.S. residents.
Ruby Powers, a Houston immigration lawyer representing Victor Hugo Salgado Araujo, who was the entrance seat passenger, requested a federal district decide to maintain her shopper’s petition sealed as a result of she fears the high-profile case might put Victor Hugo Salgado Araujo and his household in peril of “retaliation or intimidation.”
This text first appeared on The Texas Tribune.
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Harris County District Legal professional Sean Teare, whose workplace is working an investigation into the taking pictures, additionally expressed doubt that there have been medicine in Lorenzo Salgado Araujo’s van.
Mexico’s president stated her authorities will file complaints and lawsuits over 17 deaths associated to U.S. immigration enforcement.
Protesters demanded feds launch footage of the taking pictures and the three males who have been within the van with Lorenzo Salgado Araujo earlier than he was killed.
