A federal judge has ruled that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) must release a Minneapolis man and asylum seeker who has been unlawfully detained for 50 days, following his arrest at the height of ICE raids in the city.
The man, identified in court documents as Elvis Joel TE, was detained on 22 January alongside his two-year-old daughter while returning home from a shop. ICE agents broke the car window with the child inside and transported both to Texas despite a court order barring their removal from Minnesota. The toddler was released the next day, but Mr TE, who is from Ecuador and has a pending asylum case, remained in custody.
US District Judge Katherine Menendez ruled on Friday that there was no legal basis to keep Mr TE detained, stating he was “not properly detained” under the laws cited by the government. The judge noted that Mr TE was not subject to mandatory detention and that agents had not obtained a warrant for his arrest.
Lawyers for Mr TE condemned the circumstances of the arrest, calling the detention of a toddler “particularly cruel and unjustified”. Chelsea Walcker, chief legal officer of Groundwork Legal, said: “They broke his car with his two-year-old daughter inside. They arrested him without a warrant. They put him on a plane in violation of a court order. Then they held him, unlawfully, without any legal basis for months.”
The arrest sparked protests, with community members gathering outside Mr TE’s home and officers reportedly using chemical irritants and flash-bang devices. The judge ordered Mr TE’s release by no later than Sunday, ending a period of detention that his lawyers said had “guted him”.
