WASHINGTON — A federal judge appointed by Democratic President Bill Clinton has forced immigration authorities to release a Cuban illegal alien convicted of hijacking an aircraft, returning a dangerous criminal to an American community despite an outstanding deportation order.
U.S. District Judge John E. Steele of the Middle District of Florida ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to release Maikel Guerra Morales from custody on July 8, 2026. ICE complied with the order and released him in Florida.
Morales (pictured at top) was convicted after taking part in the March 19, 2003, hijacking of a commuter aircraft in Cuba.
Authorities said Morales and others assaulted crew members and forced the pilot to fly the aircraft from Nueva Gerona, Cuba, to Key West, Florida.
He was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service, convicted of aircraft piracy and conspiracy to interfere with a flight crew, and sentenced to 22 years in federal prison.
A Department of Justice immigration judge ordered Morales removed from the United States on March 1, 2023.
ICE took him into custody in December 2025 after he completed his federal prison sentence, but Steele’s order prevented immigration authorities from continuing to hold him while removal efforts proceeded.
The Department of Homeland Security blasted the decision as another example of a Democratic-appointed judge undermining President Donald Trump’s effort to remove dangerous criminal illegal aliens from the country.
“This activist judge forced ICE to release a criminal illegal alien who was convicted and sentenced to 22 years for hijacking a plane back into American communities,” Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said.
Bis said the ruling places Americans at risk while frustrating the clear public mandate to detain and deport criminal illegal aliens.
“This is yet another example of an activist judge trying to thwart President Trump’s mandate from the American people to remove criminal illegal aliens from our country,” Bis said.
The ruling did not overturn Morales’ criminal conviction or cancel his final removal order. It forced ICE to release him from custody while federal officials continue attempting to remove him from the United States.
DHS said the Trump administration will continue fighting to detain and deport criminal illegal aliens who have no legal right to remain in the country.