25 Apr 2025

ICE Violates Court Order by Moving Venezuelan to Texas for Possible Deportation

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After federal District Court Judge Stephanie Haines issued an order temporarily blocking Immigration and Customs Enforcement from moving Venezuelan immigrant “A.S.R.” out of her district or the country, he was flown to Texas where large deportations to El Salvador appear to be getting prepared.

The aircraft took off 15 April 2025 half an hour after Haines issued her order. It took “A.S.R.” to the Bluebonnet Detention Center at Anson, Texas, disregarding her ruling that he must be kept in western Pennsylvania. A transcript of the 17 April hearing where this was revealed to Haines was previously unreported.

“A.S.R.” is believed to have been among Venezuelans that ICE tried to deport under the Alien Enemies Act last week. A court order currently blocks this from the southern district in Texas, so the men were moved to the state’s northern district. A separate court case led to an emergency order from the Supreme Court last week which turned around buses on their way to an airport from the Bluebonnet center before the men aboard could be loaded onto airplanes, presumably to El Salvador.

“A.S.R.” was arrested 26 February 26 after a neighbor reported him as a Tren de Aragua member. It is not clear whether anything other than hearsay contributed to the decision to expel him.
At the 17 April hearing, Justice Department lawyer Laura Irwin said “A.S.R.” began to be moved out of Haines’ jurisdiction, the Western District of Pennsylvania, before a petition challenging his possible deportation was filed by his attorneys. The Harrisburg airport from which he was flown is in another judicial district. Irwin did not know exactly when “A.S.R.” crossed the boundary out of Haines’ district.
The DOJ has repeatedly claimed that judicial orders did not apply to immigrants by moving them over substantial distances soon after their arrest and claiming their lawyers’ petitions and judges’ orders only applied if the immigrant was still in the pertinent jurisdiction at the moment of filing.
Some judges have dealt with this by ordering an immigrant returned to a detention center they were in before they were shuffled out of the judge’s jurisdiction. Others have initiated steps toward holding federal officials in contempt of court. Haines has not yet said anything about taking either course.