Federal Judge Orders Release of Convicted Gang Member
A federal judge, selected by former President Barack Obama, has directed the release of a Salvadoran national, Carlos Antonio Flores Miguel, who has a history as a convicted sex offender and gang member, after multiple illegal entries into the United States.
Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson mandated that Flores Miguel, affiliated with the MS-13 gang from El Salvador, be released from ICE custody, as confirmed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
“This activist judge, appointed by President Obama, released Carlos Antonio Flores Miguel, an illegal alien from El Salvador and member of the MS-13 gang, from ICE custody,” stated Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Biss. “Releasing a violent criminal is inexcusably reckless and will allow him to commit further crimes against innocent Americans in the future.”
In her order for his release, Nelson noted that “the complainant’s unlawful detention was unnecessarily prolonged due to a series of lapses on the part of the defendant.”
According to the judge, several issues arose throughout the case, with Flores-Miguel shifting between federal and criminal custody over two months.
“The court determined that release was the appropriate remedy here and ordered Carlos’ immediate release,” concluded Nelson.
Flores-Miguel first came to the U.S. in September 2016 but was deported shortly afterward. He tried again in March 2017, during President Donald Trump’s administration, and faced deportation once more. The DHS reported that he re-entered the country for a third time in October 2021 and was released in 2022 during former President Joe Biden’s tenure.
On January 20, ICE arrested him in Minneapolis during Operation Metro Surge, which involved deploying numerous federal immigration enforcement agents to Minnesota. Authorities claimed that he violently resisted arrest, reportedly hitting and kicking officers and allegedly stealing a gun holster from one of them.
“You wouldn’t want this MS-13 gang member from El Salvador as your neighbor,” tweeted ICE. “Carlos Flores Miguel is a four-time deported criminal illegal alien, a convicted sex offender, and a federal law enforcement assailant.”
Resisting arrest isn’t his only crime; Flores-Miguel has a record that includes rape and illegal entry as well.
“President Trump is enforcing the law and arresting illegal aliens who have no right to be in our country. We are applying the law according to the law,” Biss said in a statement. “If an immigration judge determines that an illegal alien does not have the right to be in this country, we will forcibly remove them.”
