DHS Slams Biden-Appointed Judge For Releasing Detainee From Men’s ICE Facility

Federal immigration officials are slamming a Biden-appointed judge for ordering the release of a Mexican national who was being held in a men’s ICE facility, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Odalis Jhonatan Martinez-Velasquez

Odalis Jhonatan Martinez-Velasquez, who entered the US illegally in 2023, had been placed in a men’s facility in accordance with an executive order aimed at protecting women in ICE custody, DHS said

Velasquez, who entered the US illegally in 2023 and was lawfully detained on June 2, 2025, was processed for expedited removal, DHS said.

US District Judge Amy Baggio later ordered Velasquez’s release—an action DHS officials say undermines the authority of immigration judges and federal law.

“An immigration judge, not a district judge, has the authority to decide if Odalis Jhonatan Martinez-Velasquez should be released or detained,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.

“The activist judge is ignoring the biological reality of sex, undermining ICE’s commitment to promoting safe, secure, and humane environments for women in custody, and subverting the American people’s mandate to restore commonsense to our immigration system and reject extreme gender fanaticism.”

Officials emphasized that Velasquez was placed in a men’s facility in accordance with federal policy and a Trump-era executive order signed on Jan. 20 titled the “Executive Order of Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.”

“Velasquez—a biological male—was placed in a men’s facility in alignment with the President’s Executive Order and for the safety of women in ICE custody,” DHS said.

A DHS statement added that the agency “will not buy into radical gender ideology when detaining illegal aliens.”