Federal judge orders release of father detained by ICE on Baltimore school campus

A man who was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Baltimore school grounds will be released from detention, a federal judge ruled Thursday.

U.S. District Judge Julie Rubin ruled that ICE lacked probable cause to arrest Jesus Acevedo Sanchez and ordered the federal government to release him from the Farmville Detention Center in Virginia by 11:59 p.m.

“The court reached the right result today. Any other result would have been rubber-stamping lawlessness,” said Rachel Girod, one of Acevedo Sanchez’s attorneys, outside the courtroom. “We’re very pleased that our client’s going home to his girls.”

ICE detained Acevedo Sanchez, 39, and his longtime partner, Adriana Gavilan Sanchez, 37, on June 11, while they dropped one of their daughters off at Commodore John Rodgers Elementary/Middle School in East Baltimore.

Bystanders recorded video of the encounter, which marked the first reported time that ICE conducted an operation on Maryland public school grounds since President Donald Trump returned to office.

City and state leaders condemned the incident, and community members rallied in Patterson Park in a show of solidarity for the couple.

Acevedo Sanchez and Gavilan Sanchez are both from Mexico and do not have legal immigration status. The federal government is still seeking to deport them.

Their two daughters are U.S. citizens, the couple’s attorneys have said.

In a post on X the day he was detained, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security claimed that Acevedo Sanchez “refused lawful commands, violently resisted arrest, and used his vehicle to evade law enforcement, dragging an ICE officer in the process.”

The department asserted that Acevedo Sanchez was facing charges of resisting and impeding federal officers and destruction of government property, but those charges do not appear in public court records.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Beatrice Thomas wrote in court documents that Acevedo Sanchez tried to drive over a median to avoid capture and an officer was knocked to the ground as he sped off.

In an affidavit, Acevedo Sanchez said men who were not wearing ICE or police symbols pointed guns at his family and struck their SUV from behind with unmarked vehicles.

Gavilan Sanchez said in an affidavit she felt terrified and experienced nightmares after her detention.

Last week, U.S. District Judge Matthew Maddox ordered Gavilan Sanchez to be released from immigration detention. She was freed at about 10:30 p.m. on July 15 from the Caroline Detention Facility in Bowling Green, Virginia, according to court documents.

This story will be updated.

Correction: Adriana Gavilan Sanchez’s name was misspelled in a previous version of this story.