CPJ calls for Estefany Rodríguez’s release from ICE custody after immigration judge grants bond

Washington, D.C., March 16, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes Monday’s order to release on bond journalist Estefany Rodríguez, whose lawyers said she was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) without being presented a warrant and urges the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to release her immediately and unconditionally.

On Monday, an immigration judge ordered the journalist to be released on $10,000 bond, an unusually high amount. 

CPJ has led calls urging DHS and the U.S. government to guarantee due process Rodríguez’s case, including her right to face immigration proceedings while free.

“We are heartened to see that Estefany Rodríguez was ordered to be released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody at her bond hearing but are concerned that her bond is unusually high. Her team must be allowed to pay her bond immediately and Rodríguez should be released without delay,” said CPJ U.S., Canada, and Caribbean Program Coordinator Katherine Jacobsen. “The Department of Homeland Security and its affiliates are increasingly being used to police First Amendment rights, including freedom of the press. Rodríguez’s arrest is the latest example in a troubling pattern.”

Rodríguez, a Spanish-language journalist, fled her native Colombia in 2021 after facing death threats in connection with her reporting. She sought asylum in the United States and was in the country legally at the time of her detention. Rodríguez has an asylum case, a pending green card application, and work authorization, according to news reports.

Rodríguez’s lawyers have argued that she was in detention in relation to the exercise of her First Amendment rights, including her work as a journalist. A habeas hearing on Tuesday will determine if Rodríguez was arbitrarily detained. 

CPJ has documented a pattern of DHS actions that limit First Amendment rights.

DHS did not immediately respond to CPJ’s emailed request for comment. 

In previous emails, DHS officials told CPJ that Rodríguez is “an illegal alien” and falsely stated that a pending green card application and work authorization do not give someone legal status to be in the country.