A federal judge on Monday ordered the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to release from their custody one of the witnesses to a federal immigration agent’s fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo.
Jose Trinidad Rojas Pliego must be released from detention within 48 hours of the order, which was issued Monday evening. Authorities must release Rojas Pliego in a public space and give his attorneys notice at least three hours beforehand, according to the order.
Roja Pliego, a Mexican citizen, was one of three men who were passengers in Salgado Araujo’s van when Immigrations and Custom Enforcement officers began following the group and ultimately shot the longtime Houston resident. Rojas Pliego has lived in the United States since 1998, has several children and stepchildren who are U.S. citizens and has no criminal record, according to the order.
Because the officers who stopped the men had no body cameras or dashcams, Rojas Pliego and the other men are the only known witnesses to the shooting. He and another passenger have countered federal officials’ recollection of events, asserting that agents rammed Salgado Ararujo’s van with their vehicles prior to shooting him.
U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison’s order for Rojas Pliego’s release comes less than a week after he issued a separate order blocking Rojas Pliego’s deportation, and he noted in Monday’s order that Rojas Pliego’s request is “one of hundreds of similar petitions” amid the Trump administration’s application of immigration detention protocol.
Ellison’s order states that the government is not permitted to detain noncitizens without “individualized justification” only because they did not enter the country lawfully. It also stipulates that DHS must seek a pre-detention hearing before it seeks to re-detain Rojas Pliego.
DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the order.
Raed Gonzalez, one of Rojas Pliego’s attorneys, said that Rojas Pliego himself was not yet aware of the order. He also said the judge’s ruling for an immediate release was indicative of the strength of Rojas Pliego’s petition.
“He could have ordered a bond hearing to be taken in immigration court,” Gonzalez said. “That’s what … sometimes some of the judges have done. Thankfully, this one knew what he was doing.”
Gonzalez said it was still too early to tell whether similar orders would be issued for the other two witnesses, Daniel Tirado Pantoja and Salgado Araujo’s brother, Victor Hugo Salgado Araujo. The two have submitted similar petitions to be released from immigration detention.
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