Colombian man detained by ICE despite bid to self-deport, judge orders release
Jul 22, 2026·Location: New York, NY
Country of origin: Colombia

Marlon Andres Torres Gomez, a Colombian man who has been in ICE custody since March 18, was granted voluntary departure by an immigration judge on May 12 and ordered to leave the United States by June 11. He purchased a one-way ticket from New York to Colombia for June 10 and his attorney repeatedly contacted ICE to coordinate his departure, but immigration officials kept him detained and prevented him from boarding the flight. A federal judge in New Jersey, Michael Farbiarz, ruled that ICE violated his due process rights by blocking his compliance with the voluntary departure order and then using his failure to depart as justification for continued detention, ordering his release.
Sources
- ICE dealt legal blow after stopping migrant with plane ticket from leaving
Newsweek·Jul 23, 2026·archived copy
- Colombiano quiso autodeportarse de Estados Unidos, pero ICE se lo impidió: juez ordenó su liberación en un duro revés para la política de Trump
eltiempo.com·Jul 29, 2026·archived copy
- jerseyvindicator.org
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