A Cuban national convicted of hijacking an airplane in 2003 has been ordered released in Florida, despite a federal order for his removal from the U.S.
Maikel Guerra Morales and several others assaulted a flight crew and hijacked a Cuban commuter airplane, forcing it to fly more than 100 miles north to Monroe County, Florida, where it eventually landed at Key West International Airport.
After completing a 22-year sentence for "aircraft piracy," Morales was transferred to ICE custody in 2025, following a federal immigration judge's order of removal in 2023.
A federal judge in Fort Myers has ruled that Morales must be released, citing a Supreme Court ruling involving foreign nationals languishing in custody with no country to take them back.
The decision has drawn criticism from DHS officials, who argue that it undermines efforts to remove criminal aliens from the country.
However, the judge's ruling was based on the case of Kestutis Zadvydas, an ethnic Lithuanian lawful permanent U.S. resident who was ordered deported in 1994 but had no receptive country to return to.
According to the ruling, federal officials indicated their intention to deport Morales to Mexico, but found that there is no evidence of a "significant likelihood that Guerra Morales will be removed in the reasonably foreseeable future."
