Florida Judge Orders Release of 2003 Cuban Plane Hijacker Despite Removal Order
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Jul 14
Florida Judge Orders Release of 2003 Cuban Plane Hijacker Despite Removal Order
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jul 14
Summary
Maikel Guerra Morales, a Cuban national convicted of hijacking a commuter plane to Key West in 2003, was ordered released from ICE custody in Florida after finishing a 22-year sentence.
Judge John Steele said Morales cannot be held indefinitely because there is no significant likelihood he can be deported in the reasonably foreseeable future, invoking the Supreme Court’s Zadvydas precedent.
A federal immigration judge had issued a removal order in 2023, and U.S. officials had explored deporting him to Mexico, but the court found no evidence any country would take him.
DHS condemned the ruling as judicial interference with the Trump administration’s push to detain and remove criminal noncitizens, while Morales remains under an order of supervision.
The case revives a long-running U.S.-Cuba dispute: after the 2003 hijacking, Cuban officials demanded the return of the plane and all passengers, including those charged with piracy.