San Diego

An accused Cuban spy remained in federal custody Friday after U.S. authorities obtained an order blocking his release, contending that he is a risk to national security.

Juan Manuel Rodriguez Camejo, who is seeking political asylum in the United States, was being held without bond at Metropolitan Correctional Center in San Diego.

Rodriguez, 40, a former Cuban intelligence agent who entered the United States clandestinely last month from Tijuana, along with his wife and 6-year-old daughter, says he has reformed and wants to defect to the United States.

Federal authorities have charged that Rodriguez remains a Cuban intelligence operative and seeks U.S. residence as a cover for his spying activities.

On Thursday, a federal immigration judge ordered Rodriguez freed on $7,500 bond, rejecting the government’s allegation that he poses a threat to national security. But Rodriguez remained imprisoned, as U.S. authorities won a stay of that order Friday from the Board of Immigration Appeals in Washington.

Meanwhile, Rodriguez has requested that U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. Irving set bail to allow him to be free while his case for political asylum is adjudicated, a process that could last for more than a year. The judge is considering the petition.

Rodriguez’s wife and daughter are already free from INS detention on $2,000 bonds. They are staying with relatives in Beverly Hills.