Judge orders release of Venezuelan couple caught up in Trump gang crackdown
Source: Politico
03/28/2025 04:32 PM EDT
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.
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.
Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/28/venezuelan-couple-release-00258414