Filed Date: April 16, 2025
Closed Date: June 13, 2025
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In this case, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas ordered the release of two Venezuelans, married to each other, whom the government was attempting to deport pursuant to the Alien Enemies Act. The court held that the government had failed to establish that the petitioners were, as alleged, members of Tren de Aragua, and granted habeas relief on that basis on April 25, 2025. 2025 WL 1203179.
The two petitioners in this habeas action entered the United States in October 13, 2022, and were detained and charged with attempting to enter the country at a place other than an official port of entry. They were briefly detained but then paroled into the United States; they lived in Washington D.C. and then Maryland with their three children. They applied for, and were granted, Temporary Protected Status (“TPS”). On March 11, 2025, however, they were again briefly detained on a misdemeanor charge relating to their unlawful entry. And then later in March they were arrested by ICE as part of initiating removal proceedings--and released by order of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Virginia, in a habeas proceeding, because of their TPS.
Shortly thereafter, petitioners each received notices their TPS status had been withdrawn due to alleged “association with a Foreign Terrorist Organization.” The “Foreign Terrorist Organization” at issue was “Tren de Aragua” (“TdA”), a gang that the Department of State had so designated in February 2025. The notice petitioners received provided for an appeals period of about a month; they duly retained counsel to file an appeal.
On April 7, the government rescinded TPS for all Venezuelans.
Next, petitioners traveled to El Paso for a pretrial hearing in their misdemeanor criminal case, and the district court overseeing that case allowed them to remain free on bail and return to Washington DC. Instead, the government arrested them in El Paso on April 16. That same day, petitioners filed this case, seeking habeas relief--release from custody because, they argued, their TPS status made their detention unlawful. They simultaneously sought a bar on removal from the district or country, as emergency relief. The case was assigned to Senior Judge David Briones, who granted the requested TRO on April 16. On April 18, petitioners filed an Amended Verified Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus, which expanded on their initial claims and formally requested permanent relief.
After expedited briefing and a hearing, Judge Briones then granted habeas relief on April 25, 2025, ordering that petitioners be released from custody. Petitioners argued that even though their TPS was withdrawn on April 1, 2025, they were given thirty-three days to appeal, until May 4, 2025 and since 8 C.F.R. § 244.14(b)(3) provides that “Temporary Protected Status benefits will be extended during the pendency of an appeal” their ’ confinement is unlawful under the Immigration and Nationality Act. In addition, they argued that their designation as “alien enemies” pursuant to the TdA Proclamation violated due process because it lacked a factual basis, thus making their detention under the Alien Enemies Act unlawful. The court agreed with both, describing the proof offered as "shoddy affidavits and contradictory testimony" that didn't meet a preponderance of the evidence standard, much less required “clear, unequivocal, and convincing” standard the court found applicable. In fact, Judge Briones write, "This Court takes clear offense to Respondents wasting judicial resources to admit to the Court it has no evidence, yet seek to have this Court determine Petitioner Sanchez Puentes is 'guilty by association.'"
The court therefore found for the petitioners and entered an order requiring their immediate release.
In addition, the court entered a broader order, that the government "SHALL NOT REMOVE FROM THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS OR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA any non-citizen detained in, or held, in federal immigration custody in the Western District of Texas who were, are, or will be subject to the March 2025 “Invocation of the Alien Enemies Act Regarding the Invasion of the United States by Tren de Aragua”, Pres. Proc. No. 10903, 90 FR 13033. and that it "SHALL provide a twenty-one (21) day notice to individuals detained in the Western District of Texas pursuant to the AEA and the TdA Proclamation. Such notice must include the individual's right to seek judicial review, and inform individuals they may consult an attorney, at their own expense, regarding their detention and the Government's intent to remove them. Such notice must be given and written in a language the individual understands."
On April 26, the petitioners filed a document a motion to enforce the judgment, which the court denied on May 1. It appears from the order--the motion is not available on the public docket--that the motion contested ICE's placing electronic monitoring or other supervision on the petitioners when released from custody.
Then on May 3, the respondents filed a motion to stay the April 25 habeas order, seemingly only insofar as it extended beyond the named petitioners, pending appeal to the Fifth Circuit. On May 13, the district court granted a stay pending appeal "with respect to the District-wide relief granted in that order." No appeal was docketed during this period. Then, on June 13, Judge Briones granted the petitioners’ Amended Verified Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus and formally terminated the case. As of late June, the court’s final judgment—ordering the release of the petitioners and granting them individual relief—remained in effect. The broader, district-wide injunctive provisions, however, remained stayed pending appeal. No notice of appeal had been filed as of June 26, 2025.
Summary Authors
Scott Shuchart (5/26/2025)
Victoria Tan (6/27/2025)
M.A.P.S. v. Garite, Western District of Texas (2025)
For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69905770/parties/sanchez-puentes-v-garite/
Briones, David (Texas)
Benoit, Christopher (Texas)
Bunn, Sherilyn Ann (Texas)
Cappelletti, Daniel Martin (Texas)
Coyle, Lynn A. (Texas)
See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69905770/sanchez-puentes-v-garite/
Last updated July 18, 2025, 2:21 p.m.