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But the federal government's magnanimity did not end there. On the day he was to be released, records show, Hernndez had an immigration detainer " a request for law enforcement agencies to hold noncitizens for pickup by Immigration and Customs Enforcement " in place. Here, too, the Trump's administration's treatment of Hernndez differed from its public objectives. Other noncitizens caught up in recent immigration sweeps " the vast majority of whom do not have criminal records " have faced swift efforts to deport them, even to countries where they may face threats. But in Hernndez's case, the Federal Bureau of Prisons scrambled to get his detainer removed so he could walk free. And Hernndez did not just walk out of the prison. Despite persistent budget and staffing shortages, prison officials paid a specialized tactical team overtime to drive Hernndez from a high-security facility in West Virginia to the famed five-star Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City, according to records and three people familiar with the situation. Before he left, Hernndez was allowed to use the captain's government phone to talk to the federal prison system's deputy director, Joshua Smith, who was convicted in a drug trafficking conspiracy before Trump pardoned him in 2021.