A federal judge has released an immigrant from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody in Southern California, the Department of Homeland Security announced.
David Antonio Aviles Perez is identified by DHS as a member of the MS-13 gang with an international warrant for aggravated murder in El Salvador. He was arrested in California in 2023 on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a controlled substance, and petty theft, the agency said.
ICE arrested Aviles Perez on March 26 and held him pending removal from the United States. Federal Judge Jinsook Ohta subsequently released him from ICE custody.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin objected to the release. "This radical activist judge has put American lives at risk by releasing a wanted murderer," Mullin said in a statement. He added that this was the second time Aviles Perez had been "released back onto the streets in California," though DHS did not provide details about the prior release.
Judge Ohta was appointed to the San Diego County Superior Court by Governor Newsom in 2020 and to the federal bench in the Southern District of California by then-President Joe Biden in 2021.