Rhode Island judges order probe as DHS loses track of migrant suspect

Federal judges in Rhode Island have ordered a probe into how Trump administration lawyers handled a migrant case after attorneys withheld information about a Dominican Republic homicide warrant, then publicly attacked the judge who ruled without it. The dispute now reaches beyond one detainee, raising the question of what candor federal courts can expect when government lawyers speak in immigration proceedings.

The case centers on Bryan Rafael Gomez, a 27-year-old Dominican national whom the Department of Homeland Security says entered the United States illegally in 2022 and was first encountered by Border Patrol near Lukeville, Arizona. Gomez was arrested in Worcester, Massachusetts, on April 4, 2026, on assault and battery charges. ICE said he was later detained after he was released on $500 bail.

What the court was not told, according to filings and subsequent disclosures, was that Dominican authorities had issued an arrest warrant for Gomez on January 24, 2023, on a homicide charge. U.S. District Judge Melissa DuBose ordered Gomez released on April 28, before learning of the warrant. She later said the government’s lack of candor and a serious breakdown in ethical codes justified a formal investigation, and she referred the matter to the full court for review by a magistrate judge or special master. She also ordered Gomez re-detained pending an immigration bond hearing within seven days.

The legal fight deepened when the Rhode Island U.S. Attorney’s Office apologized on May 1 for failing to disclose the warrant, saying its lawyers had been instructed by ICE on April 24 not to confirm or deny the warrant because its status was unconfirmed at the time of the habeas proceeding. ICE later said it received confirmation that the warrant was active on April 30, two days after DuBose’s release order. The government also submitted an uncertified translation of the Spanish-language warrant, including one version described in court as AI-assisted, after saying it still could not produce a certified translation.

Gomez’s lawyer, Melanie Shapiro, challenged the warrant’s validity and said she had received a letter from an attorney in the Dominican Republic claiming her client had no criminal history. The controversy escalated after DHS issued an April 30 press release calling DuBose an activist judge and describing Gomez as a violent criminal illegal alien wanted for murder. That statement remained online even after the apology, sharpening concerns that the government had built a false public narrative around a case still before the court.

For the judiciary, the episode is now a test of whether immigration enforcement can override the basic duty of candor owed to judges. For the public, it is a reminder that when federal lawyers withhold critical facts, the damage is not only to one case but to trust in the system itself.