Federal Judge for the Middle District of Florida John E. Steele, 77, passed away suddenly on July 16, just eight days after ordering the release of Cuban Maikel Guerra Morales, who had been sentenced for hijacking a plane in 2003 and was in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) awaiting deportation.
The death was confirmed by a legal source in Miami and by a legal assistant of Chief Judge Marcia Morales Howard of the Middle District of Florida, according to the New York Post. As of this Monday, judicial authorities had not disclosed the cause of death, nor was there any indication that it was related to the controversial immigration decision or the impeachment process initiated against her.
Named by former President Bill Clinton in the year 2000, Steele ordered on July 8 that ICE release Guerra Morales within 24 hours, believing that his prolonged detention violated the precedent set by the Supreme Court in Zadvydas v. Davis (2001), which prohibits the indefinite detention of immigrants whose deportation cannot be executed within a reasonable timeframe.
In a resolute statement, the magistrate asserted that "the law is clear on this matter. The Government cannot indefinitely confine individuals in a cell as an alternative solution to a stalled deportation process."
Steele also emphasized that ICE had been detaining Guerra Morales since December 2025 without presenting a concrete plan for his removal or demonstrating that Mexico had agreed to accept him. “[ICE] has had more than three years since the order for Guerra Morales's removal—and over six months since his current detention—to deport him from the United States and [still] has not been able to articulate a specific plan for his removal to Cuba, Mexico, or another country,” the judge wrote in his ruling.
The decision sparked an immediate political reaction. On July 14, the Department of Homeland Security labeled Steele as an "activist judge", while acting Undersecretary Lauren Bis stated that the ruling contradicted the immigration policy of the Trump administration.
One day later, Republican Congressman from Florida Greg Steube filed articles of impeachment against the judge, accusing him of having committed "serious crimes and offenses." "Judge Steele had every legal justification to keep a convicted hijacker off our streets, yet he chose to release him," Steube told Fox News.
The death of the magistrate, which occurred just a day after the presentation of that initiative, nullified the removal process.
The case of Maikel Guerra Morales
The story of Guerra Morales dates back to March 19, 2003, when he and at least eleven other Cubans hijacked a DC-3 Aerotaxi plane from the Isle of Youth to Key West, Florida. He was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison for air piracy and served his entire sentence.
In May 2022, an immigration judge granted him protection under the Convention Against Torture, believing he would face the risk of inhuman treatment if returned to Cuba, which prevented his deportation to the island. However, ICE re-arrested him in December 2025 with the aim of deporting him to Mexico.
After the news of Steele's death, Guerra Morales gave statements to WINK News from his residence in Lubbock, Texas, where he remains under federal immigration supervision.
"Regardless of the different opinions that may exist about my case, I will always remember Judge Steele as a man who honored the oath he took upon assuming his position: to apply the law with independence, integrity, and justice," stated the Cuban.
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