Petitioner Deglis Yohardis Salazar Osuna, who appeared shackled and wearing orange prison garb alongside pro bono counsel from Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, smiled at family members and other supporters upon learning from U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams of the Southern District of New York that he was to be set free.
Salazar Osuna, 20, fled Venezuela with his family and is seeking political asylum in the United States while attending Liberty High School Academy for Newcomers in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood and learning English.
He was detained by ICE on Nov. 25 after a pre-Thanksgiving check-in with immigration officials, his lawyer Victor Hou said in court.
"He was arrested by a swarm of ICE agents," Hou said.
Salazar Osuna likely would have been held incommunicado and deported either to Venezuela or another country, according to Hou, but for a pro bono petition filed against LaDeon Francis, an acting field office director for ICE, on Nov. 25.
Hou's firm took the case after Judge Abrams ordered on Monday that the student be given pro bono counsel.
"He belongs in school. He doesn't belong in prison where he's been," Hou said. "He poses no danger. He poses no risk of flight."
Hou said federal officials claimed that his client was detained because he was subject to criminal charges. But those charges — including for misdemeanor assault — were dismissed or adjourned, according to information provided to the court.
Judge Abrams said that under controlling case law, Salazar Osuna was entitled to a "particularized" hearing on whether he should have been granted bail instead of being sent to an upstate prison without access to legal counsel.
The judge said hundreds of petitioners like Salazar Osuna have been arrested by ICE.
After the hearing, his lawyers said they planned to wait at the courthouse to make sure he is released. Other supporters said they had clothes for him to change into.
Salazar Osuna is represented by Victor Hou, Andrew Darcy and Ludivine Van der Heyden of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP.
The government is represented by Leslie Ramirez-Fisher of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.
The case is Salazar Osuna v. Francis et al., case number 1:25-cv-09823, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
--Editing by Karin Roberts.
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