Federal judge declines to release immigrant detainee held at Orange Co. Jail for nearly 30 days

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 a component of the executive branch, not the judicial branch. Hernandez's hearing comes amid heightened attention paid to federal immigration enforcement and related proceedings in the courts.