Feds admit failure to disclose murder warrant to judge who ordered release of Dominican migrant

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A suspected illegal migrant from the Dominican Republic with a deportation order and an Interpol Red Notice related to a homicide case in his home country was released by a judge appointed by former President Joe Biden, according to the Department of Homeland Security. 

But the Rhode Island U.S. Attorney's Office has since said that the federal government never notified U.S. District Court Judge Melissa DuBose of the criminal charges against Gomez, apologizing to DuBose.

"As our recent filing in this matter makes clear, Judge DuBose did not have knowledge at the time of her ruling that Gomez was wanted by authorities in the Dominican Republic," First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Rhode Island Charles Calenda said Friday.

DHS initially labeled DuBose an "activist judge."

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Bryan Rafael Gomez was ordered released from ICE custody. (Getty Images | DHS)

"The suggestion that the court was aware of such information, yet failed to act, is inaccurate and creates a false narrative," Frank Perry, chief deputy clerk for Rhode Island’s federal court, said in an email Friday. "While criticism of judicial decisions is an essential part of public discourse, it should be expressed in a manner that is accurate and measured, not in terms that inflame or mislead."

Gomez was ordered released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody on Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Melissa DuBose in Rhode Island.

DuBose ordered that Gomez be released from ICE custody because of "continuous unlawful detention," while ICE argued that he was subject to mandatory detention for having an international arrest warrant for murder.

The judge ordered that Bryan Rafael Gomez be released from ICE custody due to "continuous unlawful detention." (Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The judge found that ICE was holding Gomez under a legal authority designed for migrants apprehended at the border, which DuBose determined did not apply to him since he was arrested by local police inside the U.S. A court order reviewed by Fox News shows DuBose found Gomez was not subject to mandatory detention under the statute cited by ICE and was instead entitled to a bond hearing. 

ICE cannot rearrest him due to DuBose’s order, DHS said.

Gomez was arrested on April 4 for assault and battery in Worcester, Massachusetts. A detainer was then honored, and ICE Boston arrested him after he was released on $500 bail, according to DHS.

He had been held in Rhode Island, where he was issued a deportation order on Tuesday by an immigration judge.

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DHS said Bryan Rafael Gomez entered the U.S. illegally in 2022, when he was caught and released by Border Patrol. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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Gomez entered the U.S. illegally in 2022, when he was caught and released by Border Patrol near Lukeville, Arizona, according to DHS.

On Jan. 24, 2023, the Coordination of the Courts of Instruction of the National District of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, issued a criminal arrest warrant for Bryan Rafael Gomez for homicide. ICE has separately described Gomez as the subject of an Interpol Red Notice.

Editor's note: The story has been updated to include the U.S. Attorney's Office and federal court clerk statements that the judge was not notified of the criminal charges against Gomez.