A federal judge has ordered the immediate release of a Washington-area Venezuelan couple who contend they’ve been unfairly swept up in President Donald Trump’s crackdown on the Venezuela-based gang Tren de Aragua.
Luddis Sanchez Garcia, 33, and Julio Sanchez Puentes, 27, walked out of the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, Friday morning surrounded by supporters after U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema declared there was no legal basis for their detention. Both have work permits and hold temporary legal status in the U.S.
Legal Battle Unfolds
Immigration and Customs Enforcement official Erik Weiss claimed in a court filing that Sanchez Garcia “is a senior member of the Magdaleno band of TDA.” Weiss said Sanchez Puentes “is associated with the TDA terrorist organization,” but the only specifics officials offered about his alleged connection to the gang is that he lives with Sanchez Garcia.
Brinkema, an appointee of President Bill Clinton, found the evidence in the case sorely lacking, according to a lawyer for the couple, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg. “She said if [officials] had come to her chambers seeking an arrest warrant she would have thrown them out,” he said. The judge ordered the couple immediately released so they could walk out of the courtroom, attorneys said.
Controversy and Confusion
The legal actions against the couple are unusual in several respects.
Both hold temporary protected status, which allows them to work legally in the U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has ordered an end to TPS status for Venezuelans as of April 7, cutting short a Biden administration extension that would have continued through 2026. Soon after Noem announced that move, Sanchez Garcia and Sanchez Puentes filed for asylum in the U.S.
According to court papers, both of the Venezuelans admitted they crossed into the U.S. illegally in Texas in 2022. The government waited until last month to file misdemeanor charges against the pair over the crossing. That led to their arrest last month near their Capitol Heights, Maryland, home where they live with their three children.
Prosecutors at a court hearing on March 12 asked for the couple to be detained pending trial on the misdemeanors. U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Harvey called the case “odd,” noting the couple’s work permits, work history as cleaners and what appeared to be a diligent effort to pursue their cases in the immigration system.
Legal Proceedings and Unexpected Arrests
When the pair moved to a new residence, they updated their addresses in their immigration files, which may have helped authorities locate them. The prosecutor assigned to handle the case in Washington said she was unaware that the couple had TPS status.
“I don’t find they’re a serious risk of flight. I don’t find that they’re even a vague risk of flight,” the judge said at the March 12 hearing. He turned down the detention request, saying that “under any interpretation” the government hadn’t proved their detention was necessary.
However, the couple appear to have spent another day in detention because of holds immigration officials placed on them. The couple did go free for about a week. Then, as they drove in Northern Virginia last week with their three children, masked Drug Enforcement Administration agents arrested the couple and took them to nearby detention facilities, according to court filings.
This time, lawyers for the couple filed a habeas corpus petition in federal court in Alexandria and got an order from Brinkema to bring them to court for the Friday hearing.
Defending Their Case
Sanchez Garcia is a native of Aragua, the home base of the TdA gang, immigration officials said in court filings. Weiss said she acknowledged she “knows members” of the group and that she separated from her former husband about a decade ago, who she said was later killed by the Venezuelan government due to his affiliation with TdA.
Weiss said the couple is “ineligible” for temporary protected status because they “pose a danger to the security of the United States” as a result of their ties to TdA.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Alexandria declined to comment. A spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
