Federal judge orders ICE not to remove trans migrant seeking asylum from Washington detention facility

A federal judge in Oregon on Tuesday issued an order barring Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from removing a Mexican asylum seeker from a Washington detention facility, according to local reports.

The migrant, a 24-year-old transgender woman identified as "O-J-M" in court documents, was arrested outside a Portland courtroom on Monday and transferred to the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington. 

U.S. District Court Judge Amy Baggio, a President Joe Biden appointee, also demanded that ICE provide the exact date and time of the removal from Portland and explain why it was deemed immediately necessary.

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Baggio’s order was prompted after O-J-M’s attorneys said they were not aware of their client’s location and filed a habeas petition, a legal request asking a court to determine whether a person’s detention or imprisonment is lawful. 

The migrant’s attorney, Stephen Manning, of Immigrant Law Group, told OPB that O-J-M was processed into the Tacoma detention center, but he had not been granted access to her since her transfer.

Her attorneys said O-J-M was abducted and raped in Mexico because of her gender identity and sexual orientation and was seeking asylum on those grounds. 

"They threatened to kill her because O-J-M is a transgender woman," her habeas petition states, per OPB. "Fearing for her life, she fled and sought asylum in the United States in September 2023."

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Oregon sanctuary laws prevent it from having long-term immigration detention facilities, and -- aside from temporary holding cells at the Portland ICE office -- the nearest immigration detention center is the Tacoma facility.

OPB reported that O-J-M sought asylum at a port of entry along the California-Mexico border, where she was arrested, detained and released. Since then, O-J-M has attended ICE check-ins and filed her formal asylum claim in February. In April, immigration officials began removal proceedings against O-J-M, the outlet reports, citing the migrant’s attorneys.

Manning told Willamette Weekly that his client had not committed a crime while in the U.S.

During a mandatory court hearing for her asylum case in Portland on Monday, ICE attorneys moved to dismiss O-J-M’s case entirely—effectively stripping her of both the case and the legal protections it provided. Afterward, ICE agents apprehended O-J-M.

That led to Innovation Law Lab Attorney Jordan Cunnings, who also represents O-J-M, saying the arrest was a "dangerous attempt by ICE to circumvent due process, speed up deportations, and eviscerate the right to asylum."

"This unethical behavior goes against the values we hold as Oregonians, ensuring that everyone is welcomed and included in our state," Cunnings said, per KOIN.

Portland Mayor Keith Wilson said that the city "stands unwavering in its commitment to sanctuary policies," adding that Portland "will not obstruct lawful federal enforcement operations," per Willamette Weekly. 

Fox News Digital has reached out to ICE and Homeland Security for comment.