Judge orders a path to release for immigrant with leukemia facing deportation

DETROIT—A Michigan man facing possible deportation while dealing with life-threatening leukemia must be released from custody or at least be given a bond hearing in immigration court, a judge said.

It’s a victory for Jose Contreras-Cervantes and seven other plaintiffs represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan. If released on bond from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, they could return to their families while their cases wind through immigration court.

The Trump administration has refused bond hearings for immigrants who entered the US illegally, even if they lack a criminal record. The policy is a reversal of past practices and has been successfully challenged, including recently in Washington state.

“Without first evaluating each petitioner’s risk of flight or dangerousness, their detention is a violation of due process rights afforded to them” under federal law, US District Judge Brandy McMillion in Detroit said Friday.

The judge ordered bond hearings within seven days and wants a written update on Oct. 27.

In response to the petition, the US Justice Department defended the policy and also said the case should have been filed at an immigration appeals board, not federal court. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the department would appeal.

Contreras-Cervantes, 33, was diagnosed last year with chronic myeloid leukemia, a life-threatening cancer of the bone marrow and was told he has only four to six years to live, said his wife, Lupita Contreras, who is a US citizen.

The native of Jalisco, Mexico, has been living in the US for about 20 years, but not legally. Contreras-Cervantes was arrested during an Aug. 5 traffic stop in suburban Detroit.

He was shuttled from Michigan to Ohio and then back to Michigan and didn’t receive medication for 22 days, his wife said.

Now he’s been getting a substitute medication at North Lake Processing Center, a privately operated detention center in Baldwin, Michigan, ACLU attorney Miriam Aukerman said.

READ MORE: ACLU seeks release of Michigan immigrant held in custody despite life-threatening leukemia