It might sound strange to hear that the Justice Department moved to drop the criminal case of an alleged MS-13 gang leader whose recent apprehension was praised by President Donald Trump, Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel.
It might sound even stranger to hear that the man doesn’t want the charges dropped immediately.
“These are unusual times,” his lawyer wrote in explaining the request to delay dismissal.
Indeed.
But here’s why he made the strange-seeming ask.
In the motion filed Wednesday in federal court in Northern Virginia, Henrry Josue Villatoro Santos’ lawyer wrote that the federal government now wants to pursue removal proceedings against his client, who’s currently detained under the criminal case. The problem, the lawyer wrote, is that dismissal would lead to Villatoro Santos being immediately transferred into the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“The danger of Mr. Villatoro Santos being unlawfully deported by ICE without due process and removed to El Salvador, where he would almost certainly be immediately detained at one of the worst prisons in the world without any right to contest his removal, is substantial, both in light of the Government’s recent actions and the very public pronouncements in this particular case,” attorney Muhammad Elsayed wrote.
The lawyer wants a 14-day delay to let Villatoro Santos seek assistance from immigration counsel and “any further appropriate relief.” Villatoro Santos was charged with firearm possession by an undocumented immigrant.
So the request ties into the Trump administration’s broader deportation efforts. The motion cited, among other things, the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whom the government admits it wrongly sent to El Salvador while fighting to avoid bringing him back.
“Based on this recent pattern of abuse of process and defiance of court orders by immigration enforcement officials, there is a substantial risk that if this Court enters a dismissal order at this time that Mr. Villatoro Santos may be immediately deported without due process and before he has an opportunity to retain immigration counsel and assert any defenses he may have to removal,” Elsayed wrote.
“The undersigned is keenly aware of the unusual nature of this motion,” he added. “But these are unusual times.”
Noting the notorious Salvadoran prison to which Villatoro Santos could be sent and held indefinitely, the lawyer wrote: “The risk of this turning effectively into a life sentence without any due process is very real.”
Viewed through that lens, the otherwise mundane procedural request is all the more consequential.
A judge seems to agree that the matter is at least deserving of further consideration before ruling. A notation on the case docket Thursday says that a hearing on the motions will be held Tuesday before Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick in Alexandria, Virginia. The unusual saga’s resolution could become clearer then.
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