A federal judge in Fort Myers has ordered the immediate release of an immigrant from government custody, ruling that federal authorities “ignored the elephant in the room” by locking up a man they had no legal right to deport.
Alejandro Osvaldo Ghysels Reales had been living in the United States under an order of supervision for more than a decade following a 2010 removal order.
During that time, he applied for a U-1 visa—a benefit for victims of crimes—after threats were made against his daughter. In 2024, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) granted him “deferred action” status, a legal reprieve that effectively halts any deportation efforts.
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Despite this protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recently revoked his supervision and placed him in the South Florida Detention Center, also known as Alligator Alcatraz.
In a scathing order issued Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Kyle C. Cohen noted that while the government argued it has the broad authority to detain noncitizens, its legal team completely failed to address the fact that Reales is legally protected from being removed.
“The Government simply scooped up a man protected by an active grant of deferred action, locked him in a cell, and submitted a brief to this Court that pretends the protection does not exist,” Judge Cohen wrote. “Wishing a legal obstacle away does not make it disappear.”
The court emphasized that the only legitimate reason for the government to detain a noncitizen pending immigration proceedings is to ensure they are available for removal. Because Reales’ deferred action status is still active and has not been revoked, the court found there was no valid reason to keep him behind bars.
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“When the government detains a noncitizen pending immigration proceedings, it must have a legitimate, non-punitive reason for doing so,” the order stated. “The only proffered purpose for detaining Reales is to remove him. Yet his unrevoked deferred action status legally forecloses that result.”
The judge described the government’s silence on Reales’ visa status as “fatal” to their case, concluding that the detention was arbitrary and a violation of his substantive due process rights under the Fifth Amendment.
The court ordered respondents, including the Director of Enforcement and Removal Operations and the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, to release Reales within 48 hours. He will return to his prior conditions of supervision.
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