Full Breakdown
Judge Ohta Orders Release of Convicted MS-13 Member
9/6/2026, 11:23:32 PM
Core Event: Habeas Corpus Release of David Antonio Aviles Perez
On August 26, a U.S. District Court judge granted a habeas corpus petition filed by David Antonio Aviles Perez, a 35-year-old illegal-alien and active MS-13 member. The judge ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to release him from a Southern California detention facility, finding that immigration officials had held him for five months without a bond hearing or an individualized assessment of danger or flight risk. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed the release in a statement on September 5.
Background & Context
Aviles Perez was sentenced in absentia to 20 years in prison by Salvadoran prosecutors in December 2025 for an aggravated murder on July 2, 2014 in Yucuaiquín, La Union. The indictment described him and accomplice Ismael Enrique Mendoza Flores chasing a victim, forcing him to kneel, and shooting him multiple times.
In the United States, he was arrested in 2023 after allegedly swinging a machete at a man in Monterey, California, and was charged with assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a controlled substance, and petty theft. ICE re-arrested him in San Diego on March 26, placing him in ICE custody pending removal to El Salvador.
U.S. immigration law (8 U.S.C. § 1226) permits discretionary detention only after an individualized determination of danger or flight risk. Judge Jinsook Ohta concluded that officials had failed to provide such a determination, violating Aviles Perez’s Fifth-Amendment due-process rights.
Data & Statistics
- July 2, 2014: Salvadoran murder.
- December 2025: 20-year sentence in absentia.
- 2023: Arrest in Monterey.
- March 26: ICE re-arrest in San Diego.
- August 26: Judge Ohta’s release order after five months of detention.
- September 5: DHS statement confirming release.
Official Statements & Responses
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the judge’s order raised concerns about public safety and criticized California’s sanctuary policies.
The ruling did not overturn Aviles Perez’s Salvadoran conviction nor declare him harmless; it focused solely on procedural compliance.
Criticism & Opposition
DHS officials framed the decision as evidence that “criminal aliens” are being freed by “activist judges,” warning that sanctuary policies enable such outcomes. The criticism presents the release as a threat to public safety and an example of judicial overreach.
Conflicting Reports & Gaps
Sources differ on whether Aviles Perez was formally convicted of the 2023 machete assault. Some reports state he was “charged and convicted,” while others note only an arrest and pending charges. No source provides a definitive court outcome for the U.S. assault case, leaving the status of that prosecution unclear.
Verbatim Quotes
- “Although Petitioner appears to have previously been convicted following a fight with another individual in May 2023, the government has offered no evidence that it detained him after considering those facts and making an individualized determination of his danger to the public or flight risk,” — Judge Jinsook Ohta
- “Criminal aliens are being released from ICE custody by activist judges on courts across the country,” — DHS official
