CLEVELAND, Ohio — A February federal court decision on the Trump administration’s immigration policy has opened a door that could allow brothers Victor Laverde Laguna and Gregory Javier Laverde Laguna to be released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody and remain in the United States pending their asylum cases.
The decision came just 12 days before the brothers were set to have a hearing on their request for voluntary departure, which their attorney Liliana Vasquez said was made because the brothers had “given up hope.”
However, after the February court decision, the brothers will attempt for the second time to request bond.
“The judge was very kind, and he allowed me to withdraw my request for voluntary departure, and so now we’re requesting bond,” Vasquez told the Independent.
The brothers’ motions before the court argue that they are eligible for a minimum bond of $1,500 per person or, alternatively, release on their own recognizance, meaning the brothers would not have to pay to be released.
Cleveland Immigration Court Judge Richard Drucker will hear the brothers’ motions at 12:30 p.m. Friday, March 6, Vasquez said. The brothers are in custody at the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center, according to ICE records.
Victor Laverde Laguna and Gregory Javier Laverde Laguna are dual citizens of Colombia and Venezuela. They arrived in the U.S. in November 2024 and began seeking asylum six months later.
Victor Laverde Laguna previously told the Independent he had been outspoken against the Venezuelan government, and feared retaliation if he returned. His son, Julio Laverde Velandria, said a return to Venezuela would be “certain death” for the brothers.
The brothers were arrested in Athens County in September 2025 and were transferred from Southeast Ohio Regional Jail to ICE custody the following month.
Gregory Javier Laverde Laguna has Down syndrome. Victor Laverde Laguna told the Independent in a Dec. 18 interview that his brother has faced dire conditions throughout their detention.
In an affidavit filed with the motions that will be heard Friday, Laverde Velandria wrote that the physical health of both brothers has been “declining in custody.”
The criminal charges against both brothers were dismissed in November. An Athens County judge stated that both brothers remain innocent in regard to those charges.
Still, Drucker told Vasquez at a December hearing that he would deny the motion before he heard any arguments, saying he lacked jurisdiction to grant bond. After this decision, the brothers decided to pursue voluntary departure.
Drucker was following guidance from the Trump Administration, which determined in June 2025 that judges had no jurisdiction to grant bond to immigrants held in ICE custody.
Critics argued the Trump Administration’s guidance denied detained immigrants the right to due process. In December, U.S. District Judge Sunshine Sykes declared the federal guidance unlawful, but the Trump Administration continued its policy, citing a separate legal case.
In a Feb. 18 decision, Sykes vacated the precedent set by that other case, meaning the Trump Administration cannot continue to defer to that precedent. In her decision, Sykes wrote that the Trump Administration’s defiance of her December order “far crossed the boundaries of constitutional conduct.”
“We’re back to how things have operated for many, many years, in that these individuals are eligible for bond,” Vasquez, the brothers’ lawyer, told the Independent.
Vasquez said that many immigration judges have respected Sykes’ February decision, “but that has not been consistent across the board.”
At Friday’s hearing, the first issue Drucker will consider is whether he has jurisdiction to hear Victor Laverde Laguna and Gregory Javier Laverde Laguna’s motions.
If he determines that he has jurisdiction, Drucker will evaluate whether the brothers are a flight risk or a danger to their community.
The brothers’ motions argue they are not a flight risk because they have family ties in the U.S., have made efforts to seek asylum, and have abided by all conditions imposed on them as part of immigration proceedings.
The motions also argue the brothers pose no danger to their community. The motions argue the brothers had “no culpability related to the investigated crimes” in Athens County, citing the dismissal of the criminal cases against the brothers.
If the judge does grant bond, the minimum would be $1,500 per person, but “it can go up from there,” Vasquez said.
At that point, if the brothers are able to pay bond, they would be released. “They would continue their asylum case as they were prior to all of this,” Vasquez said.
