Henry Josue Villatoro Santos, 24, was arrested final month by FBI brokers at his household dwelling in Virginia.
Federal prosecutors are looking for to drop a felony case in opposition to an unlawful immigrant whom the Division of Justice (DOJ) accused of being a pacesetter of the MS-13 gang following his arrest final month.
On the identical day that the federal government introduced its intention to dismiss the case, Muhammad Elsayed, a lawyer for Villatoro Santos, requested a choose to delay ruling on the movement for 2 weeks.
“The Authorities now intends to pursue elimination proceedings in opposition to Mr. Villatoro Santos pursuant to an ICE detainer,” Elsayed wrote.
“The hazard of Mr. Villatoro Santos being unlawfully deported by ICE with out due course of and eliminated to El Salvador, the place he would virtually definitely be instantly detained at one of many worst prisons on the earth with none proper to contest his elimination, is substantial, each in mild of the Authorities’s latest actions and the very public pronouncements on this specific case.”
Based on Elsayed’s submitting, Villatoro Santos was arrested on March 27 after members of the FBI’s Particular Weapons and Ways Group executed a federal search warrant at his household dwelling in Virginia.
He was charged with a single federal cost of possession of a firearm by an unlawful immigrant.
On the identical day that Villatoro Santos was arrested, Bondi informed a press convention that officers had arrested an “unlawful alien from El Salvador.”
“He was the chief for the East Coast,” Bondi stated. “One of many high three in the complete nation.”
Bondi didn’t title the person who had been arrested on the convention, nor did she present particulars concerning the fees in opposition to them.
She informed reporters that the arrested particular person wouldn’t be “dwelling in our nation for much longer.”
The arrest got here shortly after Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which grants him the facility to deport noncitizens throughout occasions of conflict or invasion.
In his submitting with the courtroom, Elsayed acknowledged that “in its rush to show to the American public that this administration is hard on crime and immigration enforcement,” the federal government has “wrongfully deported” some people however nonetheless maintains that it has “no obligation” to return them to the USA.
“Based mostly on this latest sample of abuse of course of and defiance of courtroom orders by immigration enforcement officers, there’s a substantial danger that if this Courtroom enters a dismissal order at the moment that Mr. Villatoro Santos could also be instantly deported with out due course of and earlier than he has a possibility to retain immigration counsel and assert any defenses he could need to elimination,” his lawyer wrote.
A federal choose beforehand ordered Villatoro Santos to stay in jail to await trial.
The Epoch Occasions has contacted the DOJ for additional remark.
Reuters contributed to this report.
