After Immigration Court hearing, agents were waiting for him. His detention is now a federal case

So, Jeremy Torrealba Llorente expected to walk out of the courtroom – released on his own recognizance as he has been since entering the United States a year and a half ago.

His release lasted only minutes.

Upon walking out of the courtroom, the 22-year-old man was grabbed by federal agents, detained and sent to the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility in Batavia, unsure of what would happen next, said attorney Daniel E. Jackson, who represents him pro bono.

Torrealba Llorente “has not been provided with any reason for his detention – and there does not appear to be any lawful justification for it,” Jackson said in a court filing as he sought a federal court order this week to temporarily block a potential deportation.

Heading into Thursday’s legal proceeding before U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra Jr., the Venezuelan man did not know “whether the government intends to put him on a plane to South Sudan in the middle of the night or merely subject him to arbitrary detention, which serves no lawful immigration purpose, without any semblance of due process,” Jackson said in a court filing.

On Wednesday, Jackson said Torrealba Llorente sent him a message indicating a deportation officer told him he would be deported to Venezuela on Thursday.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Khalil later confirmed the government has no plan to deport Torrealba Llorente anytime soon, Sinatra said during Thursday’s hearing.

So Sinatra considered the request for a temporary restraining order blocking immediate deportation to be moot.

Still, the Venezuelan man remains detained, so Jackson said he will either seek to amend the existing restraining order request or file a new one seeking his release. Sinatra set briefing deadlines ahead of an oral argument scheduled for Aug. 13.

“This area of law yields various outcomes determined by various details,” Sinatra told the lawyers, adding that he expects them to provide him case law and legal authority as well as details about the man’s detention to buttress their legal arguments.

“These are not easy cases,” Sinatra said.

“This is not an area judges need to trust their gut or feelings,” Sinatra told the lawyers. “But rather I need the law and will study the law,” and only then apply the law to reach an outcome, Sinatra said.

Thursday’s court proceeding did not delve into the merits of Torrealba Llorente’s request, and the judge gave the U.S. Attorney’s Office until Aug. 8 to file its written response.

When Torrealba Llorente crossed into El Paso, Texas, on Dec. 3, 2023, federal agents placed him into removal proceedings the same day. But U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers released him on his own recognizance with conditions, including reporting to immigration hearings and to ICE offices when instructed.

Since then, he has complied with all the conditions as he pursued his legal right to claim asylum, which remains pending, Jackson said.

Until the government provides information about his detention, Torrealba Llorente is prevented from fully asserting his claim that his detention is unlawful, Jackson said.

The habeas corpus petition seeks information about his detention and the government’s intentions, Jackson said.

“The government’s actions may be wholly legitimate and justified,” Jackson said in a court filing. “But until the information, which is exclusively in its possession and which it has thus far refused to provide, neither (Torrealba Llorente) nor this court can know.”

Jackson added that “it would raise serious constitutional concerns if the government, by deporting (him), left him with no meaningful opportunity to be heard, either through administrative remedies before an immigration judge and Board of Immigration Appeals or through judicial review.”

Khalil’s confirmation that ICE does not plan to immediately deport Torrealba Llorente removes some of the urgency from the case, Sinatra said.

“The good thing is we have more time to decide things,” the judge said Thursday.

But at Thursday’s hearing, Jackson expressed concern that ICE could move his client to another detention facility in another part of the country while his federal case proceeds in Buffalo, leaving him “on his own and away from counsel.”

Jackson has requested copies of all notices the government provided to Torrealba Llorente.

If ICE holds off moving him to a different detention facility outside the area, that would allay those concerns, Sinatra said.

“I can’t commit to that and I doubt ICE would commit to that,” Khalil replied.

Torrealba Llorente has not received any notice his recognizance order was canceled, and there was no change in circumstances since he was released a year and half ago.

“This case is kind of complicated,” Khalil told the judge.

The facts in Torrealba Llorente’s case could trigger different laws that the government may cite as a legal basis for detaining him, Khalil said.