US court orders release of Cuban father held by ICE for nearly six months

A Cuban man detained by US immigration authorities for nearly six months must be released immediately, a federal court in Kentucky ruled on Tuesday. The court found that officials had failed to follow the required legal process before keeping him in custody, violating his constitutional right to due process.The ruling available on Justia, concerns Damichel Jesus Viamontes Castellano, who was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers on May 19. He had earlier been taken into custody by US Border Patrol agents in Texas in 2022 but was allowed to remain outside detention while his immigration case proceeded.Castellano has since been held at the Oldham County Detention Center in La Grange, Kentucky. His immigration case took another turn on July 28, when an immigration judge directed that he be removed to Cuba. However, he challenged that decision, and his appeal is still being considered by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA).The pending appeal was important to the court's decision because the removal order had not yet become administratively final. The judge also noted that both sides agreed that Castellano's detention fell under Section 1226(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. This provision allows immigration authorities to hold a person while deciding whether they should be removed from the country.Castellano has family and business connections in Kentucky.