A Clinton-appointed federal judge has ordered immigration agents to free a convicted plane hijacker from custody because the government cannot say when—or if—it will ever deport him.
Story Snapshot
- A federal judge ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement to release Cuban hijacker Miakel Guerra Morales within 24 hours, ending his indefinite detention.
- The judge said the government failed to show any clear plan or proof that deportation to Cuba, Mexico, or another country would happen soon.
- The ruling relies on a Supreme Court case that limits how long immigration officials can hold foreign nationals when deportation is not “reasonably foreseeable.”
- Guerra Morales, who helped hijack a Cuban passenger plane to Key West in 2003, will live with family in the United States under an order of supervision.
Judge Orders Release Of Cuban Plane Hijacker From ICE Custody
Federal Judge John E. Steele, first appointed to the bench during the Clinton administration, has ordered the release of Cuban national Miakel Guerra Morales from immigration detention after more than six months in custody following his prison term. Guerra Morales was convicted for his role in a 2003 hijacking of a passenger plane in Cuba that was forced to land in Key West, Florida, a case that sent him to federal prison for over two decades. After finishing his sentence, Immigration and Customs Enforcement took him into civil detention while officials tried to carry out a long‑standing deportation order.
Judge Steele ruled that Immigration and Customs Enforcement could not keep Guerra Morales locked up indefinitely while deportation efforts stalled, and he granted a habeas corpus petition demanding release. In his written order, the judge found that government lawyers had not shown a “significant likelihood” that officials would be able to remove Guerra Morales from the United States in the “reasonably foreseeable future,” a key standard drawn from Supreme Court precedent. The court pointed to the lack of travel documents and the absence of any firm agreement from Cuba, Mexico, or another country to receive him.
Indefinite Detention Limits And The Zadvydas Precedent
Judge Steele based his decision on the Supreme Court’s 2001 ruling in Zadvydas v. Davis, which held that the immigration laws cannot be read to allow potentially endless civil detention of foreign nationals when deportation is not realistically on the horizon. In that case, the Court said detention after a final removal order is generally limited to about six months, unless the government can show that deportation is likely in the near future. Legal guides and civil rights groups explain that once a detainee offers good reason to believe removal will not occur, officials must present real evidence of a workable plan if they want to keep someone locked up longer.
According to oversight reports, Immigration and Customs Enforcement is supposed to stop holding people past six months when there is no sign that any country will accept them or issue travel papers. Scholars who study immigration detention warn that holding people for years with no end date raises serious constitutional concerns and clashes with basic due process protections. Judge Steele echoed those worries, stating in his order that the government cannot use a jail cell as a workaround for its own failure to secure removal, even in cases involving serious past crimes like hijacking.
What Happens Next For Guerra Morales And Public Safety Concerns
Under the judge’s ruling, Immigration and Customs Enforcement must release Guerra Morales, but he is not simply turned loose without rules. He will remain under an “order of supervision,” which allows immigration officers to monitor him, require regular check‑ins, and set limits on travel and employment while the deportation order stays in place. Media reports say he has rejoined family members and will live in the community while officials continue, at least in theory, to look for a country willing to accept him.
THIS is treason – this judge needs to lose his seat!!! Clinton-appointed Judge John E. Steele just ordered the release of Cuban plane hijacker Miakel Guerra Morales back onto American streets!!
Morales was convicted for his role in the 2003 hijacking of a plane from Cuba to Key… pic.twitter.com/YG7xdjOzr2
— Blue Lives Matter (@bluelivesmtr) July 14, 2026
Judge Steele made clear that his decision does not erase Guerra Morales’s removal order or block future detention if the deportation picture changes. The court noted that if officials later secure travel documents and a firm agreement from a foreign government, Immigration and Customs Enforcement can re‑detain him and carry out the removal. For now, though, the judge found that more than three years have passed since the removal order was issued, and over six months since this latest detention began, with no concrete plan to move him out of the United States. That lack of progress, not sympathy for his crime, is what triggered the legal limit.
Sources:
twitchy.com, en.cibercuba.com, app.midpage.ai, immigrantjustice.org, aclutx.org, congress.gov, aclu.org, forumtogether.org, laaclu.org
