The federal court in Rhode Island leveled a stunning accusation against ICE on Tuesday, suggesting the deportation agency “manipulated” a case to force a judge to release a migrant homicide suspect so the Trump administration could attack the judge.
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Bryan Rafael Gomez, the illegal immigrant suspect, has since disappeared, said Hanorah Tyer-Witek, clerk of the U.S. District Court.
The clerk said it appears as though U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deliberately withheld information about Mr. Gomez’s homicide warrant in the Dominican Republic from Judge Melissa DeBose, who was overseeing a case seeking Mr. Gomez’s release from immigration detention.
Without knowing about the homicide warrant, Judge DuBose ordered Mr. Gomez released — then Homeland Security issued a press release attacking her for that order.
Ms. Tyer-Witek said the whole thing smelled like an ICE setup.
“This troubling sequence raised the question whether ICE deliberately manipulated the case briefing on the Gomez petition to set up Judge DuBose to release Mr. Gomez so that it could make a false attack against her,” the court clerk wrote.
After DHS issued its press release, Judge DuBose, while complaining about the unfairness of the attack on her, gave ICE permission to rearrest Mr. Gomez — but he failed to check in and is now in the wind.
The case is the latest flashpoint in clashes between ICE and federal judges who have been skeptical of the agency’s attempts to carry out President Trump’s mass deportation plans.
Judge DuBose — and the Rhode Island court — seem particularly incensed that DHS has refused to take down the press release attacking the judge.
“The court remains deeply concerned about the conduct by ICE officials that led to this incident and about the false statement issued by ICE reporting on the Gomez ruling, which remains online despite the government’s knowledge that it is false,” the clerk wrote.
Meanwhile, DHS has doubled down on its criticism of Judge DuBose.
In an op-ed last month, James Percival, DHS’ general counsel, accused her of “judicial misconduct” that resulted in a murder suspect eluding authorities.
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He said Judge DuBose should have ordered Mr. Gomez to sit for a bond hearing before an immigration court, where ICE would have presented evidence of his homicide warrant and his danger to the community.
Instead, Judge DuBose ordered Mr. Gomez released and said only after he was free that he needed a bond hearing.
“In other words, the judge’s reckless disregard for the law caused the problem. The fact that the court lacked the necessary information to review Mr. Gomez’s custody status is the court’s fault and only the court’s fault,” Mr. Percival wrote in The Federalist.
The Washington Times has sought comment from the Justice Department for this story.
In addition to the clerk’s accusations that ICE “set up” the court, John J. McConnell Jr., the chief federal judge in Rhode Island, scolded the DOJ’s lawyer for his handling of the case.
Judge McConnell, an Obama appointee who has become one of the fiercest judicial roadblocks to the Trump administration, faulted Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Bolan for agreeing to ICE’s request to withhold the information about the homicide warrant from Judge DuBose.
Judge McConnell said Mr. Bolan’s “error was serious” but apparently not intentional.
The judge said no formal discipline will be brought against Mr. Bolan, though the scolding letter will appear in the docket of the case.
“Your lapse of judgment reflected a failure to prioritize your duty to the court over the instructions of your client, but you did not act for any deceitful or illicit reason,” the judge wrote.
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