Fresno dad released on bond after ICE detained him. Why his case is an exception
Silviano Torres was outside his home in Fresno preparing to take his young daughter to the babysitter about 5 a.m. on May 29 when two federal agents approached him. They were Homeland Security agents, ready to detain him.
“They told me they had a warrant because I missed an immigration appointment,” Torres said.
Within hours, Torres was in handcuffs, processed at ICE’s Fresno office, and sent to a detention facility in McFarland.
Torres spent about a month in detention at McFarland. Yet, unlike other detainees, he was released on bond — despite a recent precedent from the Board of Immigration Appeals, Matter of Q. Li, that has made it more likely for detainees to remain in federal custody. The precedent considers individuals who entered the U.S. outside a port of entry or without inspection subject to mandatory detention and ineligible for a bond hearing.
Immigration attorneys told The Bee that, since the Matter of Q. Li precedent, few, if any, detainees in Northern California have been granted bond since July.
“We were just lucky that we got a judge that really didn’t pay heavy importance to Q. Li, specifically because Silviano had been here for 20 plus years, so the judge took my argument that Q. Li didn’t really apply,” said Jesus Ibañez, Torres’s attorney.
Torres had his initial court hearing on June 9 to determine whether he would hire legal representation, followed by a bond hearing on June 18. He was ultimately released on June 25 after posting a $7,500 bond.
“It made me believe in my case and feel like I had a better chance to stay in the country. It felt like I had a second chance,” said Torres, whose next court hearing is in 2028.
According to Ibañez, Torres was detained as a result of a clerical error. In 2013, when he applied for DACA, the notary handling his case failed to submit additional evidence that U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services requested of his continuous presence in the U.S. Once the deadline to submit that proof passed, USCIS denied his application.
That denial, more than a decade ago, is what ultimately led to his referral for removal proceedings this year, and his detainment at his home. A similar situation happened to a well-known Fresno restaurant manager Psalm Behpoor, who was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in June and remains in custody for a crime he committed 25 years ago as a teen.
“At the time, my daughter was with me, so I was really concerned about the safety of my daughter and not to have her traumatized by seeing her dad being taken away,” Torres said. “Also, I was worried about my wife having a panic attack after I told her what was happening.”
As of the end of June , there were 34,821 people held in ICE detention facilities , nearly double from 18,022 at the end of September 2024, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, or TRAC. By August 10, that number had risen to 59,380.
Of 39,818 bond hearings conducted through June 2025, 12,438 detainees, or 31%, were granted release on bond, according to TRAC.
Armida Mendoza, an immigration lawyer in the Fresno area, said she’s observed that most detainees aren’t eligible for a bond hearing because of Matter of Q. Li.
“The Department of Homeland Security is arguing that almost everyone is subject to mandatory detention and therefore not eligible for bond,” Mendoza said.
When it comes to Torres, Ibañez believes that, besides getting “lucky” with the judge they had, what bolstered his case for release on bond was his reputation as a standup individual. He said Torres has no criminal history, is married to a U.S. citizen, volunteers at his daughter’s school and takes his stepson to the Boy Scouts. Ibañez also submitted several letters from various individuals including family, friends, coworkers, and supervisors speaking highly of Torres.
“He’s definitely someone we want in our communities. I even submitted a letter from a local blood bank stating that Silviano had saved 18 lives because he’s donated so much blood,” Ibañez said.
Now, Ibañez said, the majority of judges “are sticking to Q. Li very religiously and very strictly.”
Ibañez said individuals detained in Fresno and Northern California are usually sent to McFarland or Adelanto, which he described as the main court for detained cases in the Central Valley. At Adelanto, three or four judges handle these cases, and Ibañez said they are strict about who qualifies for a bond hearing, applying Matter of Q. Li rigorously.
However, due to case overload, some detainees may be assigned to judges outside Adelanto — in Sacramento, San Diego, Los Angeles, or San Francisco — where, according to Ibañez, judges may be more favorable and less rigid in applying Q. Li. But for most people detained in the Central Valley, that is generally not the case.
“Individuals in the Central Valley, who are unfortunately being detained now, who don’t necessarily have a criminal record, are not qualifying for bond,” Ibañez said.
This story was originally published August 24, 2025 at 11:30 AM.
