Federal agents held him in a hospital for 37 days, at times shackled to his bed, without charging him

For more than a month, federal immigration officials surveilled Bayron Rovidio Marin in a hospital bed at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, where he lay recuperating from serious injuries to his leg after an encounter with agents at a Carson car wash they raided. He was never charged, and his lawyers say he was shackled to his bed for several days and couldn’t speak privately with doctors or legal counsel.

Over the weekend, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order requiring immigration officials to remove the guards watching over Rovidio Marin, take off the handcuffs and leave him unrestrained.

“He is presently detained under restrictions that limit his access to counsel, medical providers, and family,” U.S. District Judge Cynthia Valenzuela wrote in her Oct. 4 order. “He has been questioned by government officials while in pain and under the influence of medication. He cannot place phone calls and remains handcuffed to a hospital bed despite a broken leg that prevents him from walking. He has received no more than a vague explanation for his detention, and Respondents’ proffered excuses for delaying a formal notice are unsupported by facts.”

Despite Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s insistence on holding the man, Valenzuela said the government failed to provide any proof that he had “violated any law or regulation” or show that he was a “flight risk.”

To date, ICE has not placed Rovidio Marin in removal proceedings, charged him with violating immigration law, set bond, issued a notice to appear or otherwise processed him, according to the order. The government told the court that they would determine the immigration status of Rovidio Marin once he was released from the hospital. His attorneys argued being indefinitely held without any charges is a clear constitutional violation.

Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said Rovidio Marin “attempted to evade federal law enforcement by fleeing on foot. He attempted to scale a fence that separated the car wash and a private residence. While scaling said fence, [he] fell and injured his leg.”

Rovidio Marin “has no legal basis for remaining in the United States, and he willingly admitted to ICE law enforcement that he was an illegal alien,” McLaughlin said. “At no point was he ‘interrogated.’ ICE officers did not prevent him from seeing his family or ... using the phone.”

She said the order came from an “activist judge.”

“Judges can try to use [temporary restraining orders] to usurp federal law all they want, but they will fail,” she said.

Under federal law, officers initiating warrantless arrests must provide the person in custody a reason why they were arrested or detained and within 48 hours determine if the person will remain in custody, be released on bond or be given a notice to appear in court after an arrest warrant is issued. Those rules are only waived in extraordinary circumstances. The judge noted that the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks previously qualified as an “extraordinary circumstance” in delaying notices to appear to noncitizen detainees, but said that Rovidio Marin has been held “substantially longer.”

Kyle Cheney, with Politico, first posted about the case on social media.

Harbor-UCLA, which is part of Los Angeles County’s healthcare system, confirmed that he was hospitalized following “an injury sustained during a federal law enforcement operation.”

The hospital said it faced “uniquely challenging circumstances in this case, including requesting the removal of restraints to ensure the delivery of proper and medically necessary care” and went “above and beyond to prioritize his care and well-being.”

Rovidio Marin’s lawyers say he had been at the car wash on Aug. 27 when immigration agents doing a “roving patrol” stormed in and raided it.

In an emailed press statement, Cynthia Santiago, attorney for CLEAN Carwash Worker Center, and Nicolas Thompson-Lleras, attorney for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, said Rovidio Marin suffered severe injuries and was arrested by Border Patrol agents who transferred him into ICE custody.

“For 37 days, our client was forced to endure medical treatment and recovery with ICE agents in his room, 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” the statement read. “ICE agents listened to every conversation between him and his doctors,” they stated. “They interrogated him while he was in pain and under the influence of medication. They did not permit him to see his family and removed his access to phone calls.”

According to the judge’s order, Rovidio Marin has been under the supervision of ICE, which contracted with Spectrum Detention Services to provide guards at the hospital where he was taken.

Once admitted, he was placed under what is known as a “blackout” procedure for patients in law enforcement custody, making it harder for anyone to find him. He was registered under the pseudonym “Har Maine UNK Thirteen.”

Two to four uniformed guards — either Spectrum employees or ICE agents — “have been continuously stationed in Petitioner’s hospital room, monitoring him at all times, including while he sleeps, eats, uses the restroom, or receives medical care,” according to a declaration referenced in the order.

“It’s fundamental that you can’t be detained indefinitely without charges,” said Jean Reisz, co-director of the USC Gould School of Law Immigration Clinic, who is representing Rovidio Marin in the case. “Freedom from restraint is the cornerstone of our society, and so to arrest someone and withhold their liberty for an extended period of time without any charges, it’s antithetical to our constitutional system and our immigration laws. Our immigration laws do provide for the rights of immigrants as well.”

The temporary restraining order expires Oct. 18.