Isaac Villegas Molina, a Pasadena man who is a leading plaintiff in a legal case challenging “roving” federal immigration operations in Southern California, was released from Adelanto Detention Center on Thursday night, following a federal judge’s order and outcry from his supporters, his legal team said Friday. Those supporters — local elected leaders and members of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) — converged in Pasadena Friday to celebrate the release. But they also shone a light on an arrest they say is an unwarranted federal response to Villegas’ challenge to immigration enforcement that began last year. For Villegas, originally from Panama, that year has gone from a Pasadena bus stop to a downtown L.A. federal detention center, to freedom, and months later, back to a downtown detention center, then to the Adelanto Federal Detention center, and finally, back home in Pasadena. While he was home Friday, he didn’t attend a press conference touting his release. But others described his journey through the system. “We are all relieved that Isaac is home, but we cannot lose sight of the bigger picture,” said Rep. Judy Chu, D-Pasadena. “He should never have been arrested in the first place.” The first place was across from a Winchell’s Donut House on a crisp June morning. Villegas, along with two other day laborers — Pedro Vasquez Perdomo and Carlos Alexander Osorto — were sitting at a bus stop on June 18, at the beginning of a summer marked by intense federal immigration raids sweeping through Southern California. Four cars suddenly stopped at the spot, and six masked and armed federal agents emerged, detaining the men without immediately identifying themselves, according to a lawsuit filed by Public Counsel and the American Civil Liberties Union. Mohammad Tajsar, staff attorney at ACLU Southern California, speaks to the press outside the Pasadena Job Center on Friday, April 24, 2026 with State Senator Sasha Renee Perez and Congresswoman Judy Chu after day laborer and plaintiff in the Vasquez Perdomo case, Isaac Antonio Villegas Molina, was released for the second time from ICE detention. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG) Along with Jorge Hernandez Viramontes of Baldwin Park — questioned and detained from his job at an Orange County car wash — and Jason Brian Gavidia, an East L.A. resident stopped and questioned at an L.A. County tow yard, they didn’t know then they would become faces of a resistance waged in the courts against the raids. Villegas was released on bond the following month after an immigration judge ruled that Villegas was not a danger to others or a flight risk, and was put in the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP). After his release, Villegas became a plaintiff in the class-action lawsuit, then called Vasquez Perdomo v. Noem, which has since become a case focused on the constitutionality of how federal agents conduct immigration raids. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Villegas and others who allege they were unlawfully detained by federal agents roving locations where immigrant workers are typically hired. It was filed by Public Counsel, the ACLU and other attorneys representing Southern California residents, workers and advocacy groups. A district court judge ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, and wrote in her decision that federal authorities were “conducting roving patrols without reasonable suspicion” during raids in Southern California last summer. The ruling placed a temporary restraining order against roving ICE agents in Southern California. A panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that decision. However, in a blow to immigration advocates and those detained or affected by the detentions last summer in Southern California, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to grant a stay to the temporary restraining order, allowing ICE agents to continue with the street raids that had largely been conducted based on perceived race or ethnicity. Villegas and his co-plaintiffs became the faces of a legal battle that continues as Vasquez Perdomo v. Mullin, a federal class-action lawsuit challenging ICE’s roving patrol operations. But then came last week. Villegas was arrested a second time by ICE on Thursday as he was going in for an appointment for ISAP, a program under ICE. Homeland Security officials said in a written statement Friday that “despite multiple violations of his supervised release, including missing required check-ins, a Biden-appointed judge RELEASED this criminal illegal alien into our communities. He will receive due process.” Last week, through a spokesperson, DHS said “this criminal illegal alien has a rap sheet that includes felonies for forgery and fraud, and a misdemeanor for driving under the influence,” according to an email response. Federal officials have signaled a “quieter” enforcement since those days in June 2025, when surges of immigration agents were blanketing Southern California in high-profile operations at Home Depots, car washes and construction sites. For months, officials said the agents were carrying out the Trump administration’s effort to clear the nation of the “worst of the worst” criminals in the U.S. illegally. But it also spurred backlash over those without serious criminal violations who were being detained and deported. And it impacted many local communities where immigrants live and work, and have become integral parts of the local economy and society, leaders said. Trump fired former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who led the department through the administration’s major immigration policy changes. Markwayne Mullin, who took over as secretary last month, is likely to continue to advance the president’s agenda but has struck a softer tone on some of the administration’s most contentious policies. Members of Villegas’ legal team called his arrest by ICE “unconstitutional” and in retaliation for his participation in a federal lawsuit. The day after that arrest, community leaders, lawyers and immigration advocates gathered outside a federal building in downtown Los Angeles on Friday to demand his release. U.S. District Court Judge Michelle Williams on Thursday ultimately issued a temporary restraining order, forcing the government to release Villegas. “At least in this case, I am thrilled that we can all say that the Constitution and people’s individual rights to petition the government have come back to all of us here in Southern California,” said Mohammad Tajsar, a lawyer with ACLU SoCal, said on Friday. Supporters said Villegas was held for a week at the deadly Adelanto Detention Center, which has come into national attention recently for the living conditions that have led to four deaths at the facility since September 2025. Villegas reportedly returned home feeling sick, which Chu said is because “he came from Adelanto.” Pablo Alvarado, an organizer with NDLON, said Villegas was exposed to COVID-19 in Adelanto. Villegas was originally scheduled to appear in court Friday morning, but that date was changed to May 7. The Associated Press contributed to this report.