Biden-Appointed Judge Lets Illegal Immigrant Wanted For Murder Walk Free

A federal judge appointed by former President Joe Biden cut an illegal immigrant murder suspect loose, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Bryan Rafael Gomez is wanted in his home country of the Dominican Republic for murder, DHS said Thursday. Despite having an active warrant, U.S. District Court Judge Melissa R. DuBose ordered Gomez’s release from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention on Tuesday.

“This is yet another example of an activist judge trying to thwart President Trump’s mandate from the American people to remove criminal illegal aliens from our communities,” Acting Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement.

“Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, DHS will continue to fight for the removal of criminal illegal aliens who have no right to be in our country,” Bis said.

Gomez crossed the border illegally near Lukeville, Arizona, in 2022, DHS said. Border Patrol agents apprehended him at the time and subsequently released him into the country.

The Coordination of the Courts of Instruction of the National District of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, issued a criminal arrest warrant for Gomez for homicide on Jan. 24, 2023, according to DHS.

Officers with the Worcester Police Department arrested Gomez on April 4, 2026, for assault and battery, according to DHS. Local authorities honored an ICE detainer, handing Gomez over to federal immigration agents after he was released on $500 bail.

Gomez had filed a habeas petition, which is a legal challenge to his detention, and DuBose allowed for his release on “minimal release conditions,” according to Fox News.

Since President Donald Trump commenced his mass deportation campaign, illegal immigrants have found that habeas petitions are the best tool for getting released from ICE custody.

Immigrant detainees have filed more than 18,000 habeas petitions challenging their detention in federal courts since Trump’s second term began, ProPublica reported in February. It’s more than the number of detention challenges filed over the last three administrations combined.

Scott Mechkowski, former ICE deputy field office director in New York, told The Daily Wire that Gomez’s case “isn’t an isolated incident,” adding that “hundreds of individuals with similar backgrounds (foreign fugitives) are arrested by ICE every year, only to be let go or stuck in a cycle of release and re-arrest.”

“During my time serving in ERO [Enforcement and Removal Operations], we worked behind the scenes to remove thousands of threats like Gomez from our communities, all without seeking to draw attention to ourselves. These silent professionals put everything on the line to keep the public safe, but their efforts are undermined by rogue judges who prioritize activism over justice.”

“The result is a reckless endangerment of American lives, and it’s a problem that needs to be addressed urgently. The fact that judges are willing to release killers back into our communities is a betrayal of the trust we’ve placed in them to protect us.”

The habeas petitions move detainees’ cases out of the immigration court system and into the district courts, where judges are often much more favorable to the illegal immigrant, experts previously told The Daily Wire.

Immigration lawyers often resort to filing habeas petitions after it becomes clear their clients either have no chance of getting bond from immigration judges or have been denied bond already.