A federal judge on Monday morning ordered the release of one of three people detained since a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid in South Burlington last week.
Jisella Johana Patin Patin, 31, who goes by Johana, was one of three people detained after armed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials stormed a Dorset Street house last week.
U.S. District Court Judge Geoffrey Crawford ordered her immediate release on bail Monday morning in a courtroom packed with family and friends who spoke in favor of her role in the community.
The government’s lawyer wanted Patin Patin to face a bond hearing in immigration court, but the judge instead chose to immediately release her, saying she poses no risk to the community, is responsible for her two young children, and needs to be able to work with her lawyer on her asylum case.
“I think extraordinary circumstances are present,” Judge Crawford said.
“From our perspective, Johana would not be detained but for an unlawfully executed search warrant,” said her lawyer, Kristen Connors, who argued that her client’s detention without a bond hearing was unlawful and a violation of her due process rights under the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. She did not face any charges, according to Connors.
Connors argued her client did not pose a flight risk and was not a danger to the community. Not releasing her immediately could encourage ICE officers to illegally detain people without warrants in the future, Connors said.
The hearing ended shortly after noon. Patin Patin hugged her husband as a supporter handed her a pair of gold hoop earrings to don before stepping outside the courthouse into a cheering crowd of about 200 people.
Organizers said she was leaving to see her young children, aged 4 and 8.
Patin Patin has lived in Vermont for about three years. Connors estimated receiving about 100 letters in her support.
“Her detention has brought devastation on her family and community,” said Emma Gonzalez, a staff member at The Family Room, a community center in Burlington, at Monday’s hearing.
An hourslong confrontation last week shut down a section of Dorset Street as ICE officers launched a manhunt seeking a Mexican citizen, Deyvi Daniel Corona-Sanchez, amid widespread protests.
Charged with illegally re-entering the country, Corona-Sanchez remains at large, according to a Department of Homeland Security press release Monday.
The operation pitted hundreds of protesters against about 60 local and state law enforcement officers. ICE officers eventually seized three individuals from a single-story Dorset Street home around 5:30 p.m. on March 11 after executing a search warrant.
Federal authorities did not immediately identify the people detained but local attorneys confirmed that ICE agents detained Patin Patin, as well as her sister, Daysi Camila Patin Patin, 20, and Cristian Humberto Jerez Andrade, 31.
Local attorneys soon obtained temporary orders to prevent the three from being transferred out-of-state and filed habeas corpus complaints on their behalf in U.S. District Court, arguing that DHS failed to provide a lawful basis for the detentions.
A citizen of Ecuador, Johana Patin Patin came to the U.S. in January 2023, according to court documents. She later filed an application seeking asylum and has an immigration court hearing scheduled for December 2027, according to her lawyer.
“She’s home safe with her family now and they are very grateful and happy to be reunited,” Connors said Monday.
Supporters returned to the courthouse at 2 p.m. for the hearing of Jerez Andrade, one of the three who has been detained since Wednesday, but the hearing was rescheduled for 10 am on Tuesday.
Camila Patin Patin’s hearing is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Friday.
