Nicaraguan immigrant speaks about ICE re-arrest

Quick Read

A judge ordered Yader Cortez released from jail. Moments after he was freed, ICE officers arrested him again.

Over the last month, MPR News has uncovered a new Immigration and Customs Enforcement tactic: the re-arresting of ICE detainees. Recently, one man on the cusp of securing U.S. residency was detained again just three minutes after a judge’s order freed him.

Yader Cortez and Jennifer Cortez, his U.S.-born wife, live in St. Cloud with their 17-month-old daughter Arianna and Jennifer’s three children from a previous relationship.

U.S. District Judge Jerry W. Blackwell ordered the immediate release of Yader Cortez from ICE custody on Oct. 1. Blackwell called the warrantless arrest back in June “illegal.”

Yader, a Nicaraguan immigrant, had been held at Sherburne County Jail since the beginning of July. He was picked up by federal agents one day after he agreed to a plea deal for a fo...