Federal Judge Orders Immediate Release of Civil Rights Leader – Advocates Say “Free Isaac Now!”

Los Angeles, April 23 — Immigration-rights advocates and lawmakers today repeated their demands for the immediate release of Isaac Antonio Villegas Molina, a courageous day laborer who is challenging the Trump Administration’s unconstitutional abuses in court, and who has been illegally arrested and imprisoned – twice by ICE. 

Mr. Villegas’ second arrest came just one week before an April 24 hearing where an immigration judge is expected to decide whether his first arrest last June violated the law. After his second arrest, ICE filed a notice that would cancel Mr. Villegas’ hearing based on his renewed detention.

Today Mr. Villegas won a temporary restraining order that challenged his most recent unlawful arrest. Despite the favorable ruling, as of Thursday afternoon he remained behind bars in Adelanto, CA.  

Lauren Michel Wilfong, a lawyer with the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, said: “We welcome this swift and much-needed relief for Isaac, which is a testament to the blatant illegality of the government’s actions. ICE must now immediately release Isaac without further delay. But we will not stop there. ICE’s actions make clear that Isaac was targeted because he spoke out about ICE’s abuses, and to prevent an unfavorable court order finding that Isaac’s first arrest was unlawful. ICE acts with impunity because they believe they can get away with it. We say no more.”

Stacy Tolchin, Isaac’s immigration attorney, said: ​​“Isaac was unlawfully arrested a second time due to his bravery in speaking out for the rights of immigrants and for the rights of all of us. Today’s decision from the district court shows the importance of the rule of law. ICE continues to act outside of the rule of law, manipulating the immigration courts and arresting people unlawfully. ICE must follow the law and it must be held accountable.”

Mr. Villegas is one of several workers who brought a class-action lawsuit, Vasquez Perdomo v. Mullin,  opposing the Trump Administration’s blatantly unconstitutional racial-profiling raids across the Los Angeles area last summer.  He has been outspoken about his mistreatment by ICE, hoping to help others avoid being harmed as he was. 

But last Thursday, April 16, ICE  arrested and jailed Mr. Villegas again, without notice, in apparent violation of an immigration judge’s order last summer releasing him on bond. He was taken to the notorious B-18, a makeshift federal jail in the basement of the Federal Building where ICE prisoners have been locked away in dangerous, overcrowded, and unsanitary conditions and then transferred to Adelanto, one of the deadliest detention centers in the country. 

“What did the government get for punishing Isaac for suing them, besides a judicial egg on its face?” said Mohammad Tajsar, senior staff attorney at ACLU SoCal. “Imagine all the good the government could do to make people’s lives easier, more affordable, and healthier instead of using its DHS muscle to torch Angelenos’ constitutional rights. Until that day comes, we will remain vigilant in protecting all our clients and all community members from government terror and retaliation.”

Mr. Villegas’s immigration lawyer, Stacy Tolchin, immediately filed a habeas petition in Federal Court challenging his unlawful incarceration followed by a Temporary Restraining Order application demanding his immediate release. The government’s lawyers did not challenge the application, making no attempt to defend the legality of Isaac’s detention – thus effectively conceding it had been illegal. 

The Temporary Restraining Order was granted today.

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