cross-posted from: https://infosec.pub/post/46030124

A federal court in Rhode Island has been asked to investigate after immigration officials instructed a government lawyer to withhold information about an international arrest warrant for a detainee accused of murder. After a judge ordered his release, Homeland Security officials labeled her an “activist” who tried to “thwart” the president’s agenda.

District Judge Melissa R. DuBose, who was appointed by Joe Biden, ordered the release of a Dominican immigrant last month while he challenges his removal from the country. DHS then published a press release accusing her of knowingly releasing a man wanted for murder.

During a court hearing on Monday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Bolan admitted that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials told him not to disclose the existence of a warrant for Bryan Rafael Gomez. The DHS statement is “simply not true,” Bolan said.

…

The episode marks the latest escalation of the Trump administration’s attacks against a judiciary it believes is insufficiently deferential to the president’s agenda, which has prompted an avalanche of lawsuits from immigrants alleging violations of their due process rights as the government moves quickly to arrest and deport tens of thousands of people from the country.

In last month’s press release, Acting Assistant DHS Secretary Lauren Bis called Judge DuBose an “activist judge” who “released this wanted murderer back into American communities.”

“This is yet another example of an activist judge trying to thwart President Trump’s mandate from the American people to remove criminal illegal aliens from our communities,” she said. “Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, DHS will continue to fight for the removal of criminal illegal aliens who have no right to be in our country.”

In a court filing last week, Bolan said he was “informed” by ICE that he “could not disclose” the pending overseas charge and that “a legitimate law enforcement reason prevented disclosure.”