(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) A federal judge in California is facing scrutiny from the Trump administration after ordering the release of a Salvadoran national wanted for aggravated murder in his home country.
Jinsook Ohta, a district judge for the Southern District of California, ordered the release of David Antonio Aviles Perez, 35, on Aug. 26 after he had been in immigration detention since March 26, according to the New York Post.
In her order, Ohta ruled that the Trump administration failed to show Aviles Perez posed a danger to the community or was a flight risk.
According to ICE, Aviles Perez was wanted on an international warrant for aggravated murder in El Salvador and had a lengthy criminal record in the U.S.
His reported criminal history in the U.S. includes a 2023 arrest for assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a controlled substance and petty theft.
Headline USA reviewed Spanish-language court documents from El Salvador’s attorney general’s office asserting that Aviles Perez was sentenced to 20 years in prison for “aggravated homicide” in connection with a July 2, 2014, killing. The Salvadoran national was sentenced in absentia.
Salvadoran prosecutors said that Aviles Perez, along with co-conspirator Ismael Enrique Mendoza Flores, killed a man in the small town of Palo Galan, in the district of Yucuaiquín, La Unión.
According to prosecutors, the suspects chased and shot the victim in an attempt to force him to stop. They later shot the man in the chest. Prosecutors further said both individuals were “active members of MS-13.”
DHS said in April that Aviles Perez entered the United States at an unknown date and location.
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin criticized Ohta as a “radical activist judge” and accused her of putting “American lives at risk by releasing a wanted murderer.”
Mullin said this was the second time Aviles Perez, whom he described as a “dangerous illegal,” had been released by California authorities.
“Because sanctuary politicians want to play politics from the bench, innocent Americans are in danger,” the DHS chief added. “DHS and ICE will not be deterred by these partisan games. If California’s leaders won’t protect Americans, DHS will.”
