A federal judge on Wednesday halted the immediate transfer of an immigrant woman detained in Puerto Rico and ordered a bail hearing, while warning of possible illegality in her detention, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Puerto Rico. The emergency habeas corpus petition was filed July 13 in federal district court in Puerto Rico on behalf of Inocencia Rodríguez, a Dominican immigrant, to challenge what the ACLU described as an unlawful detention.
This marks the tenth immigrant rights case filed by the organization this year. ACLU Puerto Rico legal director Fermín Arraiza Navas said Rodríguez "represents a powerful example of institutional abuse and the illegal treatment suffered by thousands of immigrants who reside in our archipelago and are part of our communities." Rodríguez was detained Friday, July 10, during a multi-vehicle operation carried out by at least eight people at a checkpoint in Guaynabo.
At the time, she was driving a vehicle registered in her name with the Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTOP), and no local authority had ordered a vehicle stop.