CHICAGO (WLS) — A Venezuelan migrant caught up in local immigration raids was recently granted release by a federal judge but finds himself back in federal custody at an out-of-state immigration detention center.
The ABC 7 I-Team initially highlighted the case on Tuesday, and this individual’s re-arrest follows widespread controversy surrounding the judge’s release ruling.
READ: ICE arrestee from local weekend raid ordered released by federal judge
Edward Martinez-Cermeno, 24, was first arrested in Schaumburg Sunday on a misdemeanor charge of illegally entering the United States back in 2023.
After a thorough court session, Magistrate Judge Gabriel Fuentes from the Illinois Northern District Court ordered Martinez-Cermeno’s freedom, citing the failure of federal prosecutors to prove sufficient grounds for his pre-trial detention.
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Martinez-Cermeno was due to be released Tuesday night from the MCC Chicago, the federal prison downtown.
But according to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s online detainee website, Martinez-Cermeno is now listed “in custody” at the Clay County, Indiana detention center.
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While many online have criticized Magistrate Judge Fuentes’ decision to release Martinez-Cermeno, legal experts say the decision was followed the law.
“It seems to me the judge did absolutely the right thing here,” said Alison Siegler, Professor of Law for the University of Chicago’s Law School and Founding Director of the Federal Criminal Justice Clinic.
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“This kind of case is what we call a mandatory release case, meaning that this man has to be released unless the prosecutor can actually prove that there is a, quote, ‘serious risk’ that he will flee the jurisdiction if he’s released and they would need to prove that by what we call a preponderance of the evidence,” Siegler told the I-Team.
Siegler said Magistrate Judge Fuentes’ decision falls under a federal bail law that has “very clear requirements.”
“This judge followed those requirements by my, you know, analysis and understanding of everything that happened in this case. And I’m an expert on that law. I’ve testified in Congress on that law. I know all about this law,” she said.
Martinez-Cermeno’s federal defender argued on Tuesday his pending asylum case, set for April 2026, proved he was not a “serious flight risk”.
Cook County court records also show while he was in the U.S., Martinez-Cermeno had been accused of committing a crime in Chicago.
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Chicago police arrested Martinez-Cermeno for felony retail theft in January 2024, a police arrest report shows, and he failed to appear in court on that charge, triggering a warrant for his arrest.
But on Tuesday, Magistrate Judge Fuentes highlighted that local case is a non-violent criminal charge, not a conviction.
In a new law amplifying his deportation efforts, President Trump signed the Laken Riley Act, requiring federal authorities to detain immigrants for potential deportation who lack legal status and are accused of crimes, even before they are convicted.
That includes several misdemeanor offenses, including cases like Martinez-Cermeno’s local retail theft charge.
“Under the law I’m signing today, the Department of Homeland Security will be required to detain all illegal aliens who have been arrested for theft, burglary, larceny, shoplifting,” President Donald Trump said during a Wednesday news conference.
“Today’s signing brings us one step closer to eradicating the scourge of migrant crime in our communities once and for all,” President Trump said.
Edward Martinez-Cermeno had been in federal custody for roughly 40 hours – first housed at the Homeland Security Investigation’s offices in Lombard, and then the MCC Chicago — when he stepped before a judge on Tuesday.
The I-Team tried to contact the Schaumburg family that Martinez-Cermeno has lived with multiple times on Wednesday but have not heard back about how his release transpired.
Martinez-Cermeno’s federal defender, and Magistrate Judge Fuentes, did not respond to the I-Team’s questions about his release and re-arrest by immigration agents.
Despite the judge’s orders for his release, Siegler said ICE was within the law to re-arrest him when, and if, Martinez-Cermeno walked free.
“If the [U.S.] Marshals did what they were supposed to do, the guy got released, and then ICE came and got him,” Siegler said. “They are allowed to then come and get him on their detainer. That’s my understanding.”
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