United States of America v. Celia Ignacia Esquivel-Bataz

Houston, Texas, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with reentry after deportation following conviction of a felony offense.



Esquivel-Bataz, a citizen and national of Mexico, was convicted in

2011 of making a false statement to obtain credit. She was subsequently

deported in May 2012. In April 2025, United States Immigration and

Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents encountered Esquivel-Bataz at an illegal

gambling parlor in Houston. A grand jury charged Esquivel-Bataz with being

an alien unlawfully present in the United States after previously being

deported following a felony conviction in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a) and

(b). ICE lodged an immigration detainer against her.



After conducting a detention hearing, a magistrate judge determined

Esquivel-Bataz was not a flight risk and should be released on bond pending

trial. The Government filed an emergency motion to stay and revoke the

order of release, which the district court granted. Esquivel-Bataz filed a

motion for pretrial release in the district court, seeking to uphold the

magistrate judge's conditions for release. The district court held an

evidentiary hearing on the issue.



At the evidentiary hearing, an ICE officer testified that, if Esquivel-

Bataz were released, ICE would immediately take her into custody and

remove her to Mexico within 24 hours because of the detainer. After the

hearing, the district court denied Esquivel-Bataz's motion for pretrial

release, finding her to be a flight risk. In making its decision, the court noted

the following: (1) Esquivel-Bataz was indicted for illegal reentry; (2) she is a

citizen and national of Mexico; (3) she was deported in 2012 following a

felony conviction; (4) she was found in the United States unlawfully in 2025;

and (5) she has an immigration detainer against her.

Motion for release from detention denied.



Affirmed