Judge slams ICE tactics, orders release of father arrested outside Baltimore school in "stomach churner" case

A federal judge has ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to release a man who was arrested outside a Baltimore school in June, rebuking the tactics used by agents during the arrest.

Jesus Acevedo Sanchez and his partner, Adriana Gavilan Sanchez, were taken into custody by ICE agents while dropping off their daughter at Commodore John Rodgers Elementary/Middle School on June 11.

Judge Julie Rubin ordered immigration officers on Thursday to release Acevedo Sanchez from the Farmville Detention Facility in Virginia by midnight. But as of early Friday morning, he was still listed in ICE custody.

In court, Judge Rubin said this case is a "stomach churner" and that ICE did not have probable cause to arrest Acevedo Sanchez outside of the school. Rubin added that ICE officers did not follow the procedures put in place for due process.

"His immediate release is the proper and only remedy," she said.

Caught on camera 

CBS News Baltimore obtained video showing ICE agents detaining the two, as a window was shattered on their vehicle.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told CBS News Baltimore last month that Acevedo Sanchez "refused lawful commands, violently resisted arrest, and used his vehicle to evade law enforcement, dragging an ICE officer in the process."

DHS also initially alleged his partner Gavilan Sanchez punched officers, but later in an affidavit wrote there was "minimal physical resistance."

Last week, a judge ordered ICE to release Gavilan Sanchez.

"As our brave law enforcement arrests and removes dangerous criminal illegal aliens, including murderers, rapists, and gang members from our communities, America can be proud of the professionalism our officers bring the job day-in and day-out," a spokesperson for DHS said in a statement Friday morning. "Since Day One, DHS law enforcement has been delivering on President Trump's promise to the American people to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens including murderers, rapists, pedophiles, gang members, and terrorists. Nearly 70% of ICE arrests are of illegal aliens charged or convicted of a crime in the U.S. More than 3 million illegal aliens are out of the country. We will continue to deliver on the President's promise to make America safe again."

How arrest unfolded

The couple was driving in their SUV with their children just after 7 a.m. when they noticed someone following them as they pulled out of a Dunkin' Donuts, according to their attorneys.

The unmarked vehicle with ICE officers inside then tried to pull the SUV over at Dundalk Avenue and O'Donnell Street. 

They cut off his vehicle and slammed on their brakes; then, men wearing all black got out yelling with guns drawn and one broke his driver's side window, Acevedo Sanchez's attorney, Rachael Savage, told Judge Rubin. 

"He was terrified it was a random act of violence," Savage said. Her client then drove to his daughter's school "seeking protection."

Savage said her client was not questioned until he was placed in the ICE holding facility in downtown Baltimore. She said at the time of his detention, there were no removal proceedings against him.

"They had no probable cause; he was in the U.S. illegally. They had no probable cause to stop him," Savage said. 

Her co-counsel Rachel Girod told the judge, "He thought he was fleeing a carjacker who was coming for him and his elementary school-age daughters." 

She said Acevedo Sanchez went to their school because he knew there would be police officers present.

"He was trying to get his daughters to safety," Girod said. 

In an interview with WJZ-TV Investigator Mike Hellgren, Girod said, "Wouldn't anybody [think they were being carjacked]? A man jumps out wearing all black head to toe, breaks your window, and points a gun at you and your little girls in the back seat. You're going to do whatever you can to protect your family and that's what he did, and the judge saw it for what it was."

Government responds in court 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Beatrice Thomas told Judge Rubin the stop was justified. She said it was a "targeted enforcement operation" and ICE was trying to determine if Acevedo Sanchez was in the country illegally. 

Thomas said ICE ran checks on Acevedo Sanchez that turned up nothing and wanted to question him. She said that's why ICE ordered Acevedo Sanchez to get out of the car. 

"He did not comply. He decided to drive over a median, knocking over our officer," Thomas told the court. She also claimed the ICE officers "were in fact in uniforms" and insisted they "did have the authority to arrest this person." 

She did not provide specific information when the judge asked what initially led ICE to believe Acevedo Sanchez was in the country illegally.  In her ruling, Judge Rubin noted Acevedo Sanchez entered the United States illegally in 2007 from Mexico. She said he had no criminal record. His daughters are U.S. citizens. 

Judge criticizes ICE 

Judge Rubin said the government's arguments were not persuasive. 

She found the ICE officers initially "did not wear any item that identified themselves" and believed Acevedo Sanchez's account that he thought he was a victim of a carjacking, including that he thought a bullet had pierced his window when the ICE officer broke it with his weapon. 

"Out of fear they were going to kill him and his family, he jumped the median to get away when the officer was knocked to the ground," she read from her ruling in court. 

Judge Rubin said the lack of a warrant gave ICE more limited authority, and she was critical of the officers for not immediately identifying themselves and providing Acevedo Sanchez a reason for the arrest. She said the arrest was a "violation of the framework in place to afford due process."

Judge Rubin told the courtroom, "His arrest and detention are not justified."

She also said the lack of records when police searched Acevedo Sanchez's name in computer databases was no reason to pull him over.

"It is unclear how a negative hit leads them to believe a person is in the U.S. unlawfully," Judge Rubin said. She noted a search of her own name would not lead to a "hit" in the system and said there would be no reason for ICE to stop her vehicle. 

Girod told WJZ she was grateful for the judge's tough language against the immigration enforcement efforts in this case. 

"I think we especially need to consider that language because she said that was her being restrained," she told Hellgren. 

She and Savage said they were leaving court to tell Acevedo Sanchez and his partner the news about the release and then make arrangements to bring him back to Maryland. 

"They are very much at the front of our minds, and our emotional reaction to the decision was all about them," Girod said. "We're excited to share that with them and get back to work so we can do that."

Baltimore City Council hearing 

As Acevedo Sanchez's court hearing was underway, members of Baltimore's City Council were holding a hearing on the impact of immigration enforcement on school grounds, which was prompted by his arrest, believed to be the first by ICE on a public school campus in Maryland. 

"We are seeing our community, the Latino community, the immigrant community attacked every day," said Odette Ramos, who represents the city's 14th District. "No one deserves to be in that situation."

Ramos said the city is doing everything it can to protect the immigrant community and an arrest at a school was "unacceptable."

"Every student who is supporting another student is impacted — all of our families who are seeing these tragedies happen every single day — and we have to take a stand and be brave and show that we will not accept this," Ramos said. "This is not normal, and attacking one community because of how they speak, because of how they look, is just not acceptable."