Immigration judge orders release of 3 men

Ruling that the government did not justify their “prolonged detention,” a federal judge on Friday ordered three men released on bond from immigration custody at the San Pedro Detention Facility on Terminal Island while they appeal their cases.

Immigration Judge D.D. Sitgraves said that the men, who are each fighting deportation and have been housed at the detention facility between two and 4 1/2 years, did not pose a danger or a flight risk.

His decision stemmed from lawsuits filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of Raymond Soeoth, Amadou Diouf and Victor Martinez.

The ACLU charged in the suit that the Department of Homeland Security failed to abide by a Supreme Court decision that immigrants cannot be held longer than six months without being given a chance to be freed on bond.

“We’re thrilled,” ACLU attorney Ahilan Arulanantham said. “It sends a strong message to the government that a lot of immigrants are being imprisoned for years with no good reason.”

Soeoth, a Chinese Christian, fled Indonesia in 1999 to escape religious persecution. He applied for asylum the following year, but he lost the case. He appealed and has been detained for more than two years while awaiting the ruling. The court ruled that Soeoth does not pose a danger or flight risk, citing his ties to his community and his church.

Diouf came into the country from Senegal on a student visa in 1996, but he overstayed the visa because he began dating an American citizen whom he later married. Diouf was arrested and ordered deported for overstaying the visa and has been detained for nearly two years. He is fighting to stay in the country based on his marriage.

Martinez, an Ecuadorean who has a U.S.-born daughter and has lived here for 36 years, has been in immigration custody since 2002. He was ordered deported after multiple criminal convictions, including petty theft and commercial burglary. His immigration case is also pending.

anna.gorman@latimes.com