An “activist court” in Southern California freed an MS-13 gangster with a prior arrest for prostitution to roam the streets – after an immigration judge previously ordered him deported from the country, federal authorities said.
ICE agents arrested documented MS-13 member David Eduardo Mejia-Martinez, 32, in a targeted immigration raid in Sherman Oaks, California on Nov. 2, according to authorities. His criminal history includes a prior arrest for prostitution, according to court records.
Following his immigration arrest, the Salvadoran national was held at Adelanto ICE Processing Center, a high-security detention facility in Adelanto, Ca., until he was freed Sept. 9 by the US District Court of the Central District of California.
Immigration officials still aren’t sure when or where Mejia-Martinez entered the country, but they are certain he did so illegally. US Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said he never should’ve been released from custody.
“Because an activist court in California demanded his release before he could be deported, this dangerous criminal is back on the streets and is free to continue threatening American lives,” Mullin said.
Mejia-Martinez had been trying to win his freedom from federal custody since March 9 when the Central District issued a temporary restraining order and a no-transfer order after he filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, arguing he had been unlawfully detained.
A Department of Justice Immigration Judge denied Mejia-Martinez’s request for release on bond on April 30, labeling him as a flight risk and a danger to the community. The Immigration Judge ordered him deported to El Salvador on August 7.
Despite the deportation order, and Mejia-Martinez’s status as a flight risk and dangerous criminal, the Central District on Sept. 8 granted his petition for habeas corpus. He was released the following day and is now free as authorities track his location via GPS.
It’s unclear when Mejia-Martinez is next due to check-in with immigration officials, federal authorities said.
California’s federal judges may order the immediate release of detained illegal migrants under the legal precedent habeas corpus, which allows any person in custody to challenge the legality of their detention.
A writ of habeas corpus orders the government to bring the detained individual before a judge and prove they have the legal right to hold them. If the government fails to justify the confinement, the court must release the individual.
The case of Mejia-Martinez echoes the high-profile release of two other Salvadoran illegal migrants with criminal histories and gang affiliations by federal judges in the Southern District of California, which encompasses San Deigo and surrounding areas.
Convicted murderer and documented MS-13 gangster, David Antonio Aviles Perez, 35, is now wandering free, after Judge Jinsook Ohta’s on Aug. 26 ordered him released on a petition of habeas corpus.
After The California Post exposed Ohta’s decision, prosecutors admitted to making a huge legal error that led to the judge freeing the man known as “The Witch,” — saying they forgot to tell Ohta of his criminal history.
In a separate case, another gang-affiliated Salvadoran, Luis Valle, was also ordered released from ICE custody while awaiting removal by Linda Lopez, another judge in the same court district as Ohta.
Lopez freed Valle, a convicted first-degree murderer, in August, ruling there is “good reason to believe that there is no significant likelihood of his removal in the reasonably foreseeable future.”
Mullin said such decisions are too often made by activist judges who are motivated by their personal politics, and not the safety of residents.
“When partisan actors have taken over our courts and start putting the concerns of illegal aliens over the safety of the American people, we have a serious crisis on our hands,” said Mullin.
