HOUSTON – A federal judge has denied the government’s request to suspend an order releasing a key witness in the deadly ICE shooting in Houston’s Magnolia Park neighborhood.
In an order signed Monday, Aug. 3, U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison ruled that José Trinidad Rojas Pliego can remain free while the federal government appeals his release to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
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“The Court’s prior order for release remains in effect,” Ellison wrote.
Rojas Pliego was inside a van with Lorenzo Salgado Araujo when ICE agents opened fire during an enforcement operation on Canal Street on July 7. Salgado Araujo was killed, and Rojas Pliego and two other men were taken into immigration custody.
A federal judge ordered Rojas Pliego released in late July after granting his petition for habeas corpus. He walked out of ICE custody July 29, more than three weeks after witnessing the deadly shooting.
The government subsequently filed a notice of appeal and asked Ellison to stay—or temporarily suspend—the release order while that appeal proceeds.
In its motion, the government pointed to a separate immigration detention case known as Rodriguez v. Ortega. The Fifth Circuit previously issued a one-sentence order staying judgments in that case while the full appeals court considers it.
The government argued that the Fifth Circuit’s order should also prevent Rojas Pliego from receiving habeas relief.
Ellison rejected that interpretation, writing that the order in Rodriguez did not explain its reasoning or indicate that it prohibited district courts from granting habeas petitions on all possible due-process grounds.
The government’s broader appeal of Rojas Pliego’s release remains pending before the Fifth Circuit. Monday’s ruling means the district judge will not suspend the release order while that appeal moves forward.
The government could separately ask the Fifth Circuit to stay the release order. Unless a court grants a stay or the appeals court reverses Ellison’s decision, the existing order requiring Rojas Pliego’s release remains in effect.
ICE has said agents fired after Salgado Araujo allegedly used the van as a weapon during an attempt to evade officers. Statements submitted by the men who survived the shooting dispute the government’s account.
Rojas Pliego returned to the Canal Street shooting scene shortly after his release to visit a memorial honoring Salgado Araujo.
The two other witnesses remain in ICE custody as their habeas proceedings continue to federal court.
The FBI is leading the investigation into the shooting.