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Left: Ramon Morales Reyes (Department of Homeland Security). Right: President-elect Donald Trump arrives to speak at a meeting of the House GOP conference, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon).
A Mexican man in Wisconsin who was allegedly framed in an elaborate plot to get him deported by the Trump administration for assassination threats was ordered to remain behind bars by an immigration judge Wednesday, despite the fact that he is no longer under suspicion, according to federal officials and court documents.
“This criminal illegal alien is no longer under investigation for threats against the President, but will remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings as he is in the country illegally with previous arrests for felony hit and run, criminal damage to property, and disorderly conduct with a domestic abuse modifier,” a senior Homeland Security official told local NBC affiliate WTMJ in a statement.
Ramon Morales Reyes, 54, appeared at a bond hearing Wednesday and was told by Immigration Judge Carla Espinoza that the court would need more time to decide whether Morales Reyes poses a danger to the community.
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The Mexico native reportedly works as a dishwasher in Milwaukee and lives there with his wife and three children. He recently applied for a U visa, which is issued to people who become victims of serious crimes, according to his lawyers, after he was attacked in an armed robbery.
The suspect, Demetric Scott, 52, allegedly orchestrated a plot to get Morales Reyes deported before he could testify against Scott, who is accused of armed robbery in which Morales Reyes was a victim. Scott’s actions allegedly included sending letters in Morales Reyes’ name to government officials threatening to take President Donald Trump’s life and “blow up” the entire country “like 911 in New York,” according to prosecutors.
“I am not scared of the Trump Administration,” Scott allegedly wrote in one of the phony letters.
As a result, Morales Reyes had his name and face plastered on the Department of Homeland Security website by Secretary Kristi Noem after being arrested for the forged threats.
Law enforcement sources familiar with the matter told CNN and The Associated Press that federal officials allegedly knew Morales Reyes did not pen the letter that Noem and her office said he wrote and sent to an ICE office, but they chose to identify and publicly accuse him in a press release anyway. Time stamps on social media posts from Noem and the timing of the DHS press release both fall on the same day that a judge signed a search warrant for Scott’s jail cell in connection to the letters — May 28, according to court documents.
Morales Reyes’ attorneys hoped he would be released Wednesday on bond, according to WTMJ, and that the circumstances surrounding his case would lead to a pause on his deportation. They plan to continue pursuing a U visa, which would protect Morales Reyes from removal as he is aiding a police investigation and criminal prosecution.
