Judge frees Metro Surge detainee DHS called 'Worst of Worst'

Senior U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson has ordered the immediate release of Carlos Flores‑Miguel, an El Salvadoran man DHS publicly branded one of the “Worst of the Worst,” after finding his detention was unlawfully prolonged by a series of government missteps during Operation Metro Surge. Flores‑Miguel was grabbed by federal agents outside his workplace in the Twin Cities metro on Jan. 20, accused of being an MS‑13 member and registered sex offender, and briefly faced sealed criminal charges before DOJ quietly dropped the case. In a written habeas ruling, Nelson detailed a bureaucratic mess in which ICE and DOJ bounced him between Minnesota and Texas, could not even say who had him in custody at points, and then slapped an immigration hold on him after telling the court he would be released, concluding that only outright release could remedy the violations. Flores‑Miguel, who has prior illegal‑reentry convictions and was accused of violently resisting arrest, is now living in Newport under strict supervision conditions that bar him from associating with known gang members and require regular ICE check‑ins. He cannot be sent back to El Salvador because an immigration judge previously found he would likely face torture there, and DHS is now floating Mexico as a possible 'third‑country' deportation — a legally shaky plan given ongoing court fights and no clear indication Mexico will take him. For metro residents, the case is another concrete example of federal agencies overselling Metro Surge arrests in press materials while federal judges here keep finding the underlying detentions unconstitutional or incompetent.