DHS Blasts 'Activist' Judge After Federal Court Frees MS-13 Member Wanted for Murder in El Salvador

DHS published a statement on September 5, 2026 criticizing U.S. District Judge Jinsook Ohta (S.D. Cal., appointed by President Biden in 2021) for ordering the release of David Antonio Aviles Perez, 35 — an MS-13 gang member known as 'the witch' who is wanted in El Salvador on an international warrant for aggravated murder — from a Southern California ICE detention facility. ICE first arrested Aviles Perez on March 26, 2026; he had also been arrested by California authorities in 2023 on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, controlled-substance possession, and petty theft. Judge Ohta granted his habeas corpus petition on August 26, 2026, ruling that ICE had detained him for five months without an individualized determination of dangerousness or flight risk, in violation of his Fifth Amendment due process rights; he was released from custody around September 3. DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said 'this radical activist judge has put American lives at risk by releasing a wanted murderer,' while DHS's statement also faulted California's sanctuary policies. The case drew heavy conservative media coverage but has not yet been reported by wire services or major national outlets independent of DHS's framing.