Havana/The Middle District Court of Florida granted the motion for habeas corpus to the Cuban Miakel Guerra Moralesone of the 12 Cubans who on March 19, 2003 hijacked a DC-3 regional transport aircraft in Nueva Gerona, Cuba, and forced the pilot to land in Key West, Florida.
District Judge John E. Steele ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to “release” Guerra Morales within 24 hours and “place him under supervision.”
In addition, he instructed to facilitate the transfer of Guerra Morales “from the detention center, allowing him telephone access to notify his lawyer and his family when and where he can be picked up.”
According to the resolution, Guerra Morales was found guilty of the crime of “air piracy and conspiracy,” for which he was sentenced to spend 21 years in prison. Once his sentence was completed, he would be deported. However, he was granted protection under the Convention against Torture (CAT), considering that he could not be returned to the Island.
ICE released the Cuban in March 2023, but detained him again on December 30, 2025 after indicating that he would be deported to Mexico.
According to the document, ICE released the Cuban in March 2023, but detained him again on December 30, 2025 after indicating that he would be deported to Mexico.
The Cuban maintained that he had the right to be released. The defense turned to the precedent of Kestutis Zadvydas (2001), a resident alien with a criminal record, who was detained indefinitely following a deportation order because Lithuania and Germany refused to accept him. Thereafter, it was determined that six months is the reasonable limit for detention if deportation is not foreseeable in the near future.
In analyzing the case, the Middle District Court of Florida stressed that ICE “did not provide any evidence suggesting communication with Mexico in relation to Guerra Morales.” Furthermore, he stressed that the expulsion must be subject to the migrant’s acceptance and “he did not present proof of this.”
The case is added to that of Mauricio Castellanos Capwho was released last May after also filing an appeal for habeas corpus. Judge Kyle Dudek, who was appointed last year by US President Donald Trump in Florida, favored the Cuban, a convicted felon who was convicted in 2004 of lewd assault on a minor.
The judge stressed that although the case involves a “convicted criminal” who is supposed to face the “maximum immigration consequence,” his detention in the Alligator Alcatraz immigration prison for more than six months “was illegal” and contrary to the United States Constitution.
