A judge appointed by former President Joe Biden has ordered the release of a Dominican Republic national who was in the United States illegally and had an Interpol Red Notice against him for a homicide case in his home country, as reported by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Melissa DuBose in Rhode Island ruled that Bryan Rafael Gomez be released from the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Judge DuBose’s decision was based on what she described as “continuous unlawful detention.” ICE had maintained that Gomez should remain in custody due to the international arrest warrant for murder. However, the judge determined that the legal grounds ICE cited applied solely to migrants caught at the border, not to those like Gomez, who were apprehended within the United States by local law enforcement.
According to court documents obtained by Fox News, Judge DuBose concluded that Gomez was not subject to automatic detention under the specific statute ICE referenced, and she ruled that he was eligible for a bond hearing instead.
Due to Judge DuBose’s ruling, DHS stated that ICE is currently unable to detain Gomez again.
ICE cannot rearrest him due to DuBose’s order, DHS said.
Gomez was arrested on April 4 for assault and battery in Worcester, Massachusetts. A detainer was then honored, and ICE Boston arrested him after he was released on $500 bail, according to DHS.
He had been held in Rhode Island, where he was issued a deportation order on Tuesday by an immigration judge.
The judge ordered that Bryan Rafael Gomez be released from ICE custody due to “continuous unlawful detention.” (Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“Bryan Rafael Gomez is a criminal illegal alien from the Dominican Republic with an international warrant for homicide,” DHS Acting Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs Lauren Bis said in a statement. “An activist judge appointed by Joe Biden released this wanted murderer back into American communities.”
“This is yet another example of an activist judge trying to thwart President Trump’s mandate from the American people to remove criminal illegal aliens from our communities,” she continued. “Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, DHS will continue to fight for the removal of criminal illegal aliens who have no right to be in our country.”
DHS said Bryan Rafael Gomez entered the U.S. illegally in 2022, when he was caught and released by Border Patrol. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Gomez entered the U.S. illegally in 2022, when he was caught and released by Border Patrol near Lukeville, Arizona, according to DHS.
On January 24, 2023, the Coordination of the Courts of Instruction of the National District of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, issued a criminal arrest warrant for Bryan Rafael Gomez for homicide. ICE has separately described Gomez as the subject of an Interpol Red Notice.
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