HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A federal judge has ordered the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to halt the deportation of a witness in the deadly shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo by ICE agents in Houston's East End, according to court documents.

On Tuesday, the judge issued the ruling for Jose Trinidad Rojas Pliego, a passenger in Salgado Araujo's van at the time of the shooting on July 7, after his attorney filed a petition asking for his release, court documents revealed.

According to court documents, the order said Rojas Pliego cannot be deported or transferred to an ICE facility outside the Southern District of Texas, while the petition is pending, without the court's permission.