Federal Judge Orders Release of Transgender Asylum Seeker Detained Outside Portland Court

A federal judge has ordered the immediate release of O-J-M, a 24-year-old transgender asylum seeker from Mexico, who was arrested by ICE agents outside a Portland immigration courtroom in June and held for over 40 days in solitary confinement at a Tacoma detention center. The judge found that ICE and the Department of Homeland Security violated her due process rights by arresting her after a hearing where the government had moved to dismiss her case, effectively tricking her into agreeing to conditions that allowed rapid deportation attempts. The court criticized the government for failing to follow its own rules, arresting first and justifying later, with shifting legal bases for her detention. O-J-M fled Mexico due to threats and persecution, including kidnapping and sexual violence by a drug cartel, related to her gender identity and sexual orientation. Advocates highlighted the trauma caused by her detention and praised the ruling as a necessary correction to ICE's courthouse arrest practices under the Trump administration. Protests had erupted in Portland and Vancouver following her arrest, underscoring community opposition to ICE's tactics.