Federal Courts and ICE Detention

The Department of Homeland Security says U.S. District Judge John deGravelles of the Middle District of Louisiana ordered the release on Feb. 6 of four noncitizens with long criminal records — including homicide and child‑sex offenses — from ICE custody, despite long‑standing final deportation orders. The men, identified as Ibrahim Ali Mohammed of Ethiopia and Cuban nationals Luis Gaston‑Sanchez, Ricardo Blanco Chomat and Francisco Rodriguez‑Romero, have convictions that include sexual exploitation of a minor, homicide, kidnapping, aggravated assault with a firearm, burglary, robbery, larceny, weapons offenses and drug‑selling, with their removal orders dating back as far as 1995. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin called the decision “inexcusably reckless” and warned that releasing such offenders risks further violent crime, framing the issue as judges undermining President Trump and Secretary Kristi Noem’s push to detain and remove noncitizens with criminal records. The ruling comes months after DHS and Louisiana announced an agreement to expand ICE’s use of the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola — dubbed the “Louisiana Lockup” — to hold criminal noncitizens, and it is already fueling partisan arguments over how far federal judges can go in ordering releases from immigration detention. Legal details of deGravelles’ rationale are not included in the article, and the Middle District of Louisiana declined immediate comment, leaving questions about whether the decision rests on due‑process concerns, time‑in‑custody limits, or other constitutional grounds.