The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) condemned a Biden-appointed U.S district judge this week for ordering the release of a transgender Mexican illegal alien — a man who identifies as a woman — from a male-only detention facility.
The illegal alien, Odalis Jhonatan Martinez-Velasquez, had been placed into Immigration and Custom Enforcement’s (ICE) men’s detention center in accordance with President Donald Trump’s standing executive order and for the safety of women in ICE custody, DHS stated on X.
In making her ruling, Oregon District Judge Baggio joins what has become a judicial conga line of Democrat-appointed federal judges blocking Trump administration policies, as Breitbart News has reported.
In this most recent case, the judge appears to have served two left-wing causes in one order — transgenderism and open borders — as DHS accused the Court of “caving to pressure from immigration and transgender activists” and “ignoring the rule of law.”
According to a separate DHS statement, Velasquez illegally entered the country in 2023 and was released under the Biden administration. He was then lawfully detained on June 2, 2025 and processed for expedited removal.
Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said:
The President made it clear on Day One: DHS will not buy into radical gender ideology when detaining illegal aliens. An immigration judge, not a district judge, has the authority to decide if Odalis Jhonatan Martinez-Velasquez should be released or detained. The activist judge is ignoring the biological reality of sex, undermining ICE’s commitment to promoting safe, secure, and humane environments for women in custody, and subverting the American people’s mandate to restore commonsense to our immigration system and reject extreme gender fanaticism.
Thursday’s DHS statement added that President Trump’s executive order, signed January 20th and titled, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” specifically prohibits authorities from detaining males in women’s detention centers.
“Velasquez is no exception,” DHS stated.
DHS has not made clear how it intends to counter the judge’s ruling and whether Velasquez will remain in male-only facilities for the duration of his deportation processing.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
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