The Department of Homeland Security issued a press release on Thursday criticizing a federal district judge for releasing an illegal alien after reportedly being pressured by transgender activists to do so.
“Biden-appointed U.S. District Judge Amy Baggio recently ordered the release of Odalis Jhonatan Martinez-Velasquez, a male illegal alien from Mexico, after caving to pressure from immigration and transgender activists — ignoring the rule of law and promoting gender ideology fanaticism,” the release stated.
Velasquez had illegally entered the United States back in 2023 and was let go by the Biden administration.
He was then detained back in June, and “processed for expedited removal,” before being placed in an all-male Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility.
This action was in line with an executive order from President Donald Trump stating that prisoners should be grouped by sex.
“The Attorney General and Secretary of Homeland Security shall ensure that males are not detained in women’s prisons or housed in women’s detention centers,” the order read.
“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 Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said.
“The President made it clear on Day One: DHS will not buy into radical gender ideology when detaining illegal aliens,” she continued. “An immigration judge, not a district judge, has the authority to decide if Odalis Jhonatan Martinez-Velasquez should be released or detained.”
McLaughlin added, “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.”
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“Velasquez is no exception” to Trump’s order, the press release concluded.
Fox News reported, “The migrant’s attorney told Willamette Weekly that his client had not committed a crime while in the U.S. and had regularly checked in at ICE offices as instructed.”
Yet Velasquez did commit a crime. He entered the United States illegally and ignored the procedures necessary to obtain citizenship or legal status.
To write this off as a minor infraction is a slap in the face to those who’ve done everything legally — and by the book — while paying their dues.
Judge Baggio completely disregarded the executive branch’s authority in this case.
The issue has less to do with the transgender debate and more to do with how quickly Baggio gave into political pressure.
Imagine what the judge would do if a more serious case found its way onto her docket. Perish the thought.
The nation cannot allow the act of entering America illegally to be labeled a harmless mistake. There may be some hardworking people who sneak across the border. But for each person who gets away with it, they open the door for dangerous criminals to do the same.
When these menacing threats blend in — and act as if they are simply seeking asylum — how are we to respond?
If you want to enter the United States, you must go through the proper channels. No exceptions.
Welcome to a new era, where the rule of law is respected. No matter how much of a victim you claim to be, or how badly you want entrance to the U.S., you cannot just push your way in and apologize later.
To do anything less would leave the nation open to cartels, terrorist attacks, and criminal entities willing to destroy the very fabric of our homeland. Thankfully these hazards have finally been deemed unacceptable, and will be met with the full force of the federal government going forward.
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