{"id":2285,"date":"2025-12-12T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=2285"},"modified":"2025-12-11T06:18:37","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T12:18:37","slug":"rochester-worst-ice-list-raises-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/rochester-worst-ice-list-raises-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"Rochester \u2018Worst\u2019 ICE List Raises Questions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rochester (trfnews.i234.me<\/a>)<\/strong> \u2014 A federal \u201cworst of the worst\u201d list
\ntied to Rochester is raising new questions about how serious offenders move through
\nthe immigration system.<\/p>\n

The list on a U.S. Department of Homeland Security<\/a> website names 18 people linked to
\nRochester. Most were held at the Federal Medical Center or other federal prisons,
\nnot for crimes committed in Olmsted County.<\/p>\n

Cartel Hit Man Case Highlights Federal Link<\/h2>\n

One name on the list is Cesar Contreras-Orosco. Authorities in Mexico accuse him
\nof working as a drug cartel hit man and tying him to two killings in Chihuahua.<\/p>\n

Contreras-Orosco ended up in federal custody at the Federal Medical Center in
\nRochester. His case is an example of how high-profile offenders from outside
\nMinnesota moves through the system here.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Mugshot<\/div>\n

At least five people on the DHS list were serving time at the medical center when
\nThey were taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or
\nICE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Only one of the 18 people, Admir Vele, has been charged with crimes in Olmsted
\nCounty. Court records show Vele stole items from a Rochester gun shop during the
\nsummer of 2024. He also has local convictions for driving while intoxicated and
\ndriving while canceled. ICE now holds him at the Freeborn County Adult Detention
\nCenter.<\/p>\n

Another man, Francisco Pena-Gutierrez, was convicted on a drug charge in federal
\ncourt in St. Paul. He no longer appears in the federal Bureau of Prisons system
\nand is not listed in ICE custody.<\/p>\n

Many Cases Start in Other States<\/h2>\n

Most people on the \u201cworst\u201d list were arrested, tried, and first locked up outside
\nMinnesota. About half were charged and convicted in Texas federal courts, records
\nshow.<\/p>\n

Requests for more detail from DHS and the Federal Medical Center were not
\nreturned.<\/p>\n

Many names on the list no longer appear in either the federal prison system or
\nICE\u2019s online detainee locator. That suggests they moved directly from the
\nBureau of Prisons<\/a> to another federal agency.<\/p>\n

Advocates Fear Gaps in Due Process<\/h2>\n

Immigration law advocates say that kind of quiet transfer can raise serious
\ndue-process concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnytime anybody is being moved from any type of system to another \u2026 there\u2019s going
\nto be questions and concerns about whether proper processes are being followed,\u201d
\nsaid Julia Decker, policy director at the
\nImmigrant Law Center of Minnesota<\/a> in St. Paul.<\/p>\n

She said people who go straight from federal prison to another agency might not
\nSee a lawyer or get a hearing to challenge deportation.<\/p>\n

Decker said her group\u2019s removal defense team already struggles with cases where
\nimmigration court charges are dropped, but ICE still takes the person into
\ncustody. Her office has also seen major changes since the federal government
\nscaled back temporary protected status for some immigrants from Central America,
\nAsia, and Somalia.<\/p>\n

As a result, the center has shifted more time toward direct removal defense and
\nhumanitarian claims instead of simple status renewals.<\/p>\n

List Details Are Limited and Sometimes Confusing<\/h2>\n

The DHS \u201cworst\u201d list offers few details beyond basic names and broad offense
\nlabels. It often lacks case numbers or dates of birth.<\/p>\n

In some cases, the charges listed on the website do not match the crimes that led
\nto federal prison sentences.<\/p>\n

Eight men on the list were convicted only of illegal reentry to the United States,
\naccording to federal records. On the DHS site, however, their entries include
\nother alleged offenses.<\/p>\n

Decker said it is possible those people faced different charges in lower courts.
\nShe also believes some language on the list may overstate the facts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI take everything coming from the federal government right now with a grain of
\nsalt,\u201d she said. \u201cWebsites like this often leave out nuance and only highlight
\nselect information.\u201d<\/p>\n

For people trying to understand who is being held, and why, that lack of detail
\ncan make an already complex system even harder to follow.<\/p>\n

I’m Chris Harper reporting for TRF News<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rochester (trfnews.i234.me) \u2014 A federal \u201cworst of the worst\u201d list tied to Rochester is raising new questions about how serious offenders move through the immigration system. The list on a U.S. Department of Homeland Security website names 18 people linked to Rochester. Most were held at the Federal Medical Center or other federal prisons, not… Continue reading Rochester \u2018Worst\u2019 ICE List Raises Questions<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2338,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":null,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"default","_threads_share_type":"default","_google_business_share_type":"default","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[12],"tags":[2688,1837,2691,2687,772,2692,2690,2689,2518,2695,2693,912,2694,2920,2919,2918,2625,2685,2684,2686,2626,786,2624],"class_list":["post-2285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-admir-vele-rochester","tag-arrested","tag-bureau-of-prisons-transfers","tag-cesar-contreras-orosco","tag-crime","tag-dhs-rochester","tag-federal-medical-center-rochester","tag-francisco-pena-gutierrez","tag-ice","tag-ice-detention-minnesota","tag-immigrant-law-center-of-minnesota","tag-inforum","tag-julia-decker","tag-list","tag-questions","tag-raises","tag-rochester","tag-rochester-ice-detainees","tag-rochester-minnesota","tag-rochester-worst-of-the-worst-list","tag-states","tag-trf-news","tag-worst","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2285"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2285\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2339,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2285\/revisions\/2339"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}