A federal magistrate ruled that Anchorage Somali asylum seeker Roble Ahmed Salad is being detained illegally and should be released immediately. Salad, 27, was arrested on February 5 in Anchorage as part of a national immigration crackdown initiated by President Donald Trump.
Trump’s legal team quickly filed a federal court challenge, highlighting how his immigration policies affect individuals in Alaska. Salad entered the US through Mexico in 2022 seeking asylum but officials rejected his claim and ordered his deportation in 2023.
However the government acknowledged Somalia’s extreme dangers preventing authorities from forcibly sending him back. Stuck in legal limbo Salad moved to Alaska, secured a caregiver job and applied for Temporary Protected Status (TPS).
The designation is available to people from unstable countries where returning would pose significant risks. After ICE detained Salad his attorneys argued that deportation remained impossible because of his pending TPS application.
Federal prosecutors countered that Somalia had started accepting deportees making removal feasible under Trump’s administration. Magistrate Judge Kyle Reardon rejected their claim stating that the government failed to prove Somalia´s willingness to take him back indefinitely.
Reardon ruled that Salad’s deportation was not reasonably foreseeable making his continued detention a violation of federal law. According to the court’s ruling Salad must be released right away under proper care.
He is currently still being held at the Anchorage jail where Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) holds people in Alaska. In order to obtain his official release the magistrate judge also suggested that a habeas corpus petition be granted by an Alaska District Court judge.
Whether the Anchorage US Attorney Office would appeal the decision has not been confirmed. The Anchorage Somali asylum seeker, Salad will be released while his legal status is settled if no appeal is submitted.
This news article was originally published by Anchorage Daily News.
