Federal judge releases MS-13 gang member wanted for murder in El Salvador

U.S. District Judge Jinsook Ohta ordered the release of MS-13 gang member David Antonio Aviles Perez, who is wanted for a 2014 murder in El Salvador, from a California ICE detention facility. Ohta ruled that holding Aviles Perez for five months without a bond hearing violated his Fifth Amendment due process rights. The decision drew sharp criticism from DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who accused the judge of putting American lives at risk, highlighting ongoing tensions over immigration enforcement.

Judge Ohta orders release

• ▪U.S. District Judge Jinsook Ohta ordered the release of MS-13 gang member David Antonio Aviles Perez from a Southern California ICE detention facility.
• ▪Judge Jinsook Ohta ordered that David Antonio Aviles Perez be released unless federal authorities prove at a bail hearing that he poses a danger or flight risk.
• ▪Judge Jinsook Ohta was appointed to the San Diego County Superior Court by Governor Gavin Newsom in 2020 and to the federal bench by President Joe Biden in 2021.
• ▪U.S. District Judge Linda Lopez ordered the release of Salvadoran national Luis Valle, a convicted murderer, from ICE custody, citing no significant likelihood of removal.

El Salvador murder conviction

• ▪Salvadoran prosecutors stated that David Antonio Aviles Perez and Ismael Enrique Mendoza Flores shot a victim in the chest, back, and face in July 2014.
• ▪David Antonio Aviles Perez was convicted in El Salvador in December 2025 and sentenced to 20 years in prison for a 2014 aggravated murder.

California sanctuary policies

• ▪Department of Homeland Security officials stated that David Antonio Aviles Perez was released after his 2023 conviction under California's sanctuary policies.
• ▪David Antonio Aviles Perez was arrested in Monterey, California, in August 2023 for swinging a machete at a homeless man.

Trump administration criticism

• ▪An anonymous federal law enforcement official criticized Judge Jinsook Ohta's decision, stating that activist judges are emboldened by prosecutors' failure to appeal.
• ▪Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin accused Judge Jinsook Ohta of putting American lives at risk by releasing David Antonio Aviles Perez.

Immigration detention procedures

• ▪ICE agents arrested David Antonio Aviles Perez in San Diego in March 2026, holding him at the Otay Mesa Detention Center pending removal.
• ▪Judge Jinsook Ohta ruled that immigration officials violated David Antonio Aviles Perez's Fifth Amendment due process rights by holding him for five months without a bond hearing.

Debatable claims

• ▪Judge Ohta's release of David Antonio Aviles Perez was justified
• ▪California's sanctuary policies compromise public safety

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