Updated at 6:01 p.m.

BURLINGTON – A man detained in last week’s armed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement standoff on Dorset Street in South Burlington will remain in federal custody following a court hearing Tuesday.

Witness testimony from the proceeding also revealed new details of what occurred when the home was stormed by federal authorities. 

Cristian Humberto Jerez Andrade, 31, has been held since a March 11 raid on a home that triggered an hourslong confrontation, street shutdown and forced entry by federal agents. He and two others were detained, but none of them were named on the search warrant. 

In a Burlington courtroom filled with Jerez Andrade’s supporters, a federal judge refused Tuesday to release Jerez Andrade and ordered a bond hearing in immigration court.

His hearing came a day after U.S. District Court Judge Geoffrey Crawford ordered the release of Jisella Johana Patin Patin, 31, one of three people taken into custody in the same operation.

Federal Judge William K. Sessions III, presiding in Jerez Andrade’s case Tuesday, said in court that the situation was too confusing to immediately release him. The judge said he had questions about whether there might be any outstanding warrants for Jerez Andrade’s arrest. 

Kaitlin Hazard, the government’s attorney, said during the hearing that she believed there may be warrants for Jerez Andrade’s arrest based on records she reviewed. Hazard had not verified if those warrants were active, she told the judge.

Jerez Andrade, who took the stand Tuesday, said he did not  know of any active warrants for his arrest. 

Sessions said that instead of releasing Jerez Andrade, he was ordering the immigration court to hold a bond hearing for him within five days. If Jerez Andrade is not released following that bond hearing, Sessions ordered him returned to federal court in Burlington for a hearing that would address whether his detainment from the home in Dorset Street violated his constitutional rights. 

The judge said if that hearing takes place, it would be a “major” trial on the ICE operation that resulted in Jerez Andrade’s detainment. The action last week has also led to scrutiny of state and local police and their role in it. 

Outside the courthouse Tuesday, dozens of supporters rallied for Jerez Andrade’s release. Organizers from Migrant Justice said they were disappointed by the court’s decision.

“We want to make sure that Cristian gets back to his family,” said Abel Luna of Migrant Justice, which advocates for migrants in Vermont.

In Monday’s hearing, Patin Patin was released after the judge found she posed no danger to the community and cited “extraordinary circumstances,” following arguments from her attorney that her detention stemmed from an unlawfully executed search warrant.

‘There seems to be a lot of uncertainty’

Sessions said he was concerned that if released Tuesday, Jerez Andrade could be taken in custody on an outstanding warrant and moved out of state. 

“There seems to be a lot of uncertainty,” Sessions said. 

Hazard also said that there may be an active warrant for Jerez Andrade’s arrest stemming from an alleged stalking incident in 2022, though she couldn’t say for sure and didn’t have any details about it. She also said that Jerez Andrade had previously faced charges related to domestic abuse and driving a car with an expired license plate.

Jerez Andrade testified that the arrest in the domestic abuse case in 2020 arose from a verbal altercation he had with his long-term partner. He denied committing physical violence during that incident. He said he ultimately pleaded guilty to a criminal charge, encouraged by his attorney at that time to do so. Jerez Andrade said he wasn’t sure the exact name of that charge.

Jerez Andrade, during his testimony, said he had no knowledge of a stalking incident or any warrant from it. His attorney, Nathan Virag, said that he didn’t think the information the government’s lawyer provided on Jerez Andrade’s history was “the most up to date or valid.” He said it was the government’s responsibility to verify that information if it wanted to demonstrate that Jerez Andrade should remain in custody.

Virag pressed the judge Tuesday to release Jerez Andrade. Virag said his client did not pose a danger to the community and was not a risk to flee.

Virag said his client looked forward to challenging the removal proceedings in immigration court. Federal authorities started removal proceedings for Jerez Andrade the day after his detention, according to court documents. 

Jerez Andrade, Virag told the judge, had served in the military in Honduras. Jerez Andrade left the country due to changing leadership, which led to fears he would be a target for retaliation, his attorney said.

‘I could’ve lost my life’

The hearing also brought forward more details about what happened inside the house during the immigration raid. 

In testimony in support of Jerez Andrade, his nephew, José Jerez, spoke about witnessing the raid. Jerez was in the house at the time, and is a U.S. citizen.  

He said that after officers forced their way into the house, one lifted him and threw him to the floor. They handcuffed him and his uncle, he said, before proceeding to search the house. 

He said the officers discussed teargassing the house when they could not find the person for whom they had a warrant. 

When they didn’t find the man they were looking for in the main living space, an officer used a stool to climb into the attic, Jerez testified. Jerez said that while the officer searched the attic, the officer’s foot broke through the ceiling, and his gun accidentally discharged. 

“I feel like I could have died that day,” Jerez said. “I could’ve lost my life because of an ICE agent’s stupid decision.” 

ICE did not immediately respond Tuesday to a request for comment.

Jerez, who is 18, said his uncle has been a father figure to him. They have lived together along with other family members since Jerez was a kid, he said. 

Jerez Andrade also has a 6-year-old child with his long-term partner. In a letter of support, his partner said the two met in 2019. 

“He is a wonderful father and partner, always looking out for us,” she wrote in Spanish. “I beg you, with my heart in my hands, to free him.” 

Through an interpreter, Jerez Andrade spoke in court about the impact his detention has had on his family. He said his partner and 6-year-old son are struggling to buy food and pay rent without his financial support. 

“I want you to give me an opportunity to show you that I’m a very good person,” he told the judge through an interpreter. “I have a family that needs my support.”