ORLANDO, Fla. – A federal district judge Thursday declined to order the release of a Venezuelan national who has been held for nearly 30 days in the Orange County Jail.
U.S. District Judge Julie S. Sneed ruled instead that Miguel Rincon Hernandez is entitled to a bond hearing before an immigration court, and she encouraged the U.S. Attorney’s Office to work with the immigration court to expedite that bond hearing before next week.
An immigration court is not part of the federal court system under the judicial branch. It’s actually part of the executive branch, and run under the U.S. Department of Justice. The immigration court determines whether the government can deport a non-citizen from the country.
[WATCH: 2 immigrant detainees released in Orlando as judges slam federal government actions]
Rincon Hernandez’s hearing comes amid heightened attention paid to federal immigration enforcement and related proceedings in the courts.
The length of time some immigrants are being detained, and the way they are being rebooked into jail, have triggered habeas corpus hearings, which are not handled in immigration court. They are handled in federal court.
On Tuesday, in two separate cases in federal court, District Judge Paul Byron and District Judge John Antoon ordered the immediate release of two respective immigrant detainees, determining that they were being held unlawfully at the Orange County Jail.
In the last month, six clients of the Arroyo Law Firm have been released from the Orange County Jail following their respective habeas corpus hearings, including another one on Thursday afternoon.
Phillip and Josephine Arroyo appeared before Judge Sneed Thursday morning alongside Rincon Hernandez, who was brought in by federal immigration agents and remained handcuffed and shackled by the ankles while seated.
Phillip Arroyo told Sneed that Rincon Hernandez came to the United States in 2019, encountering a border agent at the time. Arroyo said his client was processed and released on his own recognizance, later obtaining a valid work permit, driver’s license, and social security card. Arroyo explained that Rincon Hernandez attended routine required check-ins with ICE and was awaiting a final determination for his asylum application.
Gregory Kehoe, the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida, and assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremy Bloor, argued that Rincon Hernandez entered the country “improperly,” but conceded that Rincon Hernandez is not accused of committing any crime while in the country.
There are two federal laws that can pertain to noncitizens who are detained.
The federal government argued that U.S. Code 1225 applied to Rincon Hernandez’s case. That statute says immigration officers can order an “expedited removal” without a hearing for an immigrant detained at the border.
However, Judge Sneed determined that the case fell under the federal statute U.S. Code 1226, which pertains to noncitizens detained while already in the United States. Under that statute, a bond hearing must be held.
Kehoe and Bloor did not dispute Judge Sneed’s determination that 1226 applied in this case. They also said they plan to file a response to Arroyo’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus, as he seeks to obtain the release of Rincon Hernandez.
Sneed did signal she could rule soon on the petition for habeas corpus.
“That is really concerning,” Sneed said when she learned of the length of Rincon Hernandez’s detention.
In addition to Rincon Hernandez, Arroyo presented on behalf of clients in two other habeas corpus hearings before Judge Carlos Mendoza Thursday.
Mendoza ordered one detainee to be released immediately.
In another case, Mendoza ordered that the detainee must have a bond hearing in immigration court on Feb. 12.