ICE post-release immigrant detentions: Immigrant describes ICE agent's chilling U-turn minutes after judge freed him, calls it 'wolf before devouring Little Red Riding Hood'

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been re-arresting immigrants who have been granted release from detention after winning habeas corpus petitions in court, reports The Guardian. According to the report, as many as 20 cases across the US relating to people who were detained after being released on habeas corpus petition in the last year have been re-arrested. This comes ahead of crucial midterm elections in the US where Democrats have an edge over Republicans, poll suggests.

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The MPR News reports that a man who was about to secure his US residency was detained again just three minutes after a judge’s order freed him. Yader Cortez and Jennifer Cortez, his US-born wife, live in St. Cloud with their 17-month-old daughter Arianna and Jennifer’s three children from a previous relationship.


The sudden reversal, from being released to being taken into custody again, has left Yader Cortez deeply traumatized. “I had never experienced anything like that — going from being free to suddenly being imprisoned again — and it left me in shock,” Yader said.

“His expression changed, much like the wolf’s before devouring Little Red Riding Hood — and his tone was different,” Yader said in Spanish. “He spoke to me in a way meant to instill fear and dread.”

The 40-year-old said the experience left him feeling that he had been subjected to racism. “I felt sad seeing so much hatred from that person who works for ICE, because that is what I would call racism—I can’t think of any other word for it,” he said.

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Yader Cortez was picked by ICE just a day after his release

US District Judge Jerry W. Blackwell ordered the immediate release of Yader Cortez from ICE custody on October 1. Blackwell called the warrantless arrest back in June “illegal.” Yader, a Nicaraguan immigrant, had been detained at Sherburne County Jail since early July. Federal agents picked him up just one day after he agreed to a plea deal for a fourth-degree misdemeanor DWI. Under the agreement, Yader was supposed to serve probation rather than face jail time.

He said federal agents initially arrested him just six blocks from his home. On October 2, Yader was transferred from the jail to the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building to sign paperwork and complete his release. However, moments after he walked out through the rear exit of the building, he was arrested again.

Yader recalled that shortly after being released, three men dressed in civilian clothes approached him and asked whether he was Yader. In an interview with MPR News conducted in Spanish, he said he confirmed his identity.

“Then he tells me, ‘You’re being arrested by ICE.’ I ask, ‘Why? The judge is letting me go free, isn’t he?’” Yader asked the official. “Then he said, ‘The judge doesn’t know what he’s doing. He made a mistake in your case. He’s fed up.’”

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What DHS said on ICE re-arresting immigrants

The Department of Homeland Security maintained that ICE has the legal authority to re-arrest immigrants under such circumstances.

“When an illegal alien is ordered released by a judge, that does not immunize the alien from immigration enforcement for all time. Instead, if ICE does not appeal the ruling, it may seek to rearrest the alien in a way that complies with the judicial decision. To suggest that ICE cannot do this is nothing short of sabotage,” a DHS spokesperson told MPR News.