A federal judge this Monday ordered the release within 48 hours of José Trinidad Rojas Pliego, one of the passengers of the van in which Mexican worker Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was traveling, who died after being shot by agents of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) during an operation in Texas.
Court order for due process
The order was issued by Judge Keith P. Ellison, of the District Court for the Southern District of Texas, who determined that Rojas Pliego's immigration detention violated his constitutional right to due process under the Fifth Amendment.
The magistrate noted that this case is part of hundreds of similar petitions that question the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) interpretation of mandatory immigration detention under federal law.
Rojas Pliego remains in ICE custody and, so far, it has not been confirmed that he has been released. The court order establishes that the immigration authorities must release him within 48 hours and notify his lawyers in advance about the execution of the measure.
The investigation continues
The man was one of the passengers in the van driven by Salgado Araujo, who died on July 7 after an incident with ICE agents in Houston.
Salgado Araujo, father of three American citizens, was shot while driving to work and, less than a week later, on July 13, Colombian Johan Sebastián Guerrero died in Biddeford (Maine) after being shot by immigration agents, in front of his partner and his minor son.
The passengers, including Rojas Pliego, have questioned the official version of the authorities, which maintains that the vehicle was used as a threat against the agents, while their lawyers have denounced that they were detained without sufficient legal basis.
