Kentucky Federal Court Orders Immediate Release of Cuban Father Held Six Months by ICE

A federal court in Kentucky ordered the immediate release on Tuesday of a Cuban national detained by immigration authorities for nearly six months, ruling that federal agents violated his constitutional right to due process by locking him up without following mandatory statutory safeguards.

Damichel Jesus Viamontes Castellano walked into federal court after spending more than 120 days behind bars without an independent judicial review of his custody. He had been locked inside the Oldham County Detention Center in La Grange, Kentucky, since May 19. That detention, the court determined, was unlawful. Federal agents bypassed their own rulebook.

ICE Arrest and the Missing Form I-286

Castellano's contact with American immigration enforcement dates back to 2022, when United States Border Patrol agents arrested him along the southern border in Texas. Officials served him a notice to appear in immigration court but released him on his own recognisance, allowing him to live and work openly while his case proceeded.

He built a life in Kentucky. He became the registered agent and sole organiser of an active business in the state. In 2024, his partner gave birth to their child in Louisville—making the infant an American citizen. His mother, a lawful permanent resident of the United States, filed a family petition on his behalf that federal authorities subsequently approved.

Then came February 2025. Castellano faced local charges of driving under the influence and reckless driving.

Those traffic charges triggered Immigration and Customs Enforcement. On May 19, ICE agents mounted a targeted operation, arrested Castellano, and revoked his 2022 release. They slapped him with an administrative warrant of arrest. Yet officers failed to issue Form I-286—the critical Notice of Custody Determination that officially notifies a detainee of the government's decision and provides instructions on how to demand a bond redetermination hearing before an immigration judge.

Castellano never received the form. The agency never assessed his individual flight risk.

The Constitutional Breakdown at Oldham County

On July 28, an immigration judge ordered Castellano removed to Cuba. But Castellano appealed the deportation order, sending his file to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). Because that appeal remains unresolved, the deportation order has not achieved administrative finality. Both the federal government and defense counsel agreed that his confinement fell under Section 1226(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, a statute granting authorities discretionary detention power while removal proceedings remain pending.

Government attorneys argued Castellano should have petitioned an immigration judge directly for bond rather than turning to a federal district court.

The court tore that argument apart. Federal officers could not skip fundamental regulatory obligations and subsequently shift the administrative burden onto an incarcerated person, the judge determined. Detained individuals routinely face towering structural disadvantages, including restricted access to legal counsel and difficulties obtaining crucial evidence while behind bars.

The court also established a decisive evidentiary bar for the government under Section 1226(a). When holding a person under discretionary authority, immigration officials must demonstrate through clear and convincing evidence that the individual poses an active flight risk or a danger to the community. ICE presented no documentation showing officers had evaluated Castellano's personal background, community ties, or court appearance history prior to jailing him.

Castellano returns to Louisville to reunite with his family and resume running his business, while the Board of Immigration Appeals evaluates his challenge to the underlying removal order.