District of New Jersey • 3:26-cv-01243

#1

Feb 07, 2026

First PETITION for Writ of Habeas Corpus OSWALDO MERINO LOPEZ ( Filing fee $ 5 receipt number ANJDC-17075263.), filed by OSWALDO MERINO LOPEZ. (Attachments: # 1 Index, # 2 Exhibit, # 3 Exhibit, # 4 Exhibit, # 5 Exhibit, # 6 Exhibit, # 7 Exhibit, # 8 Exhibit, # 9 Supplement, # 10 Brief, # 11 Text of Proposed Order, # 12 Civil Cover Sheet)(ENGLISH, JUSTIN) (Entered: 02/07/2026)

Feb 09, 2026

CLERK'S QUALITY CONTROL MESSAGE - The case you electronically filed has been processed, however, the following deficiencies were found: Please make sure to include the defendant descriptions in the PARTY TEXT field. Example: Attorney General of the United States . The Clerk's Office has made the appropriate changes. Please refer to the Attorney Case Opening Guide for processing electronically filed cases. (jjc, )

Feb 09, 2026

CLERK'S QUALITY CONTROL MESSAGE - The case you electronically filed has been processed, however, the following deficiencies were found: In the future, please use 28:2241 Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus (federal) as the cause of action and 463 -Habeas Corpus - Alien Detainee as the Nature of Suit. When filing against the government the Jurisdiction should be U.S. Government defendant. Please make note of this for future filings . The Clerk's Office has made the appropriate changes. Please refer to the Attorney Case Opening Guide for processing electronically filed cases. (jjc, )

Feb 09, 2026

Notice of Judicial Preferences. Click here for the Judge's Individual Procedure Requirements. (jjc, )

Feb 09, 2026

Judge Georgette Castner added. (jjc, )

Feb 09, 2026

Notice of Judicial Preferences

Feb 09, 2026

QC - Attorney Case Opening

Feb 09, 2026

Add and Terminate Judges

#2

Feb 10, 2026

Letter

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Feb 10, 2026

TEXT ORDER: This matter is before the Court on Petitioner's petition (Petition) for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241. (ECF No. 1 .) Petitioner also requests an order to show cause ("OTSC") and an order staying his transfer outside of the District of New Jersey pending further order of this Court. (See ECF No. 1 -11 at 1 -2.) According to Petitioner, Respondents are detaining Petitioner under the mandatory detention provisions of 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b), pursuant to the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals in Matter of Yajure Hurtado, 29 I. & N. Dec. 216 (BIA 2025). (ECF No. 1 Paras. 41-42.) Under this Court's recent decisions in Chen v. Soto, No. 25-17198, 2025 WL 3527239 (D.N.J. Dec. 9, 2025), Flores v. Rokosky, No. 25-18998, 2026 WL 84434 (D.N.J. Jan. 12, 2026), and Mistry v. Rokosky, No. 25-17647, ECF No. 15 ("Mistry Jan. 28, 2026 Mem. & Order"), the Court holds that Petitioner is subject to detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), which requires an opportunity to seek bond, Chen, 2025 WL 3527239, at *2-4; Flores, 2026 WL 84434, at *2-3; Mistry Jan. 28, 2026 Mem. & Order at 5-9. Specifically, it appears that, inter alia: (1) in 2020, Petitioner entered the United States without inspection; (2) since his entry, Petitioner has continuously resided in the United States, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services granted an I-360 Special Immigrant Juvenile petition (resulting in the granting of deferred action) on August 19, 2020, and, on January 30, 2025, he filed a green card application, which remains pending and could be granted at any moment; and (3) on January 31, 2026, in the interior of the United States, Petitioner was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers coming out of a grocery store in Long Branch, New Jersey. (ECF No.1 Paras. 29, 33-35.) Based on these alleged facts, this Court's rulings in Chen, Flores, and Mistry control this present matter. Chen, 2025 WL 3527239, at *4; Flores, 2026 WL 84434, at *2-3; Mistry Jan. 28, 2026 Mem. & Order at 5-9. In accordance with 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), within ten (10) days of the date of entry of this Text Order, Respondents shall provide Petitioner with an individualized bond hearing before an IJ who shall assess whether he presents a flight risk or a danger to the community, pursuant to 8 C.F.R. § 236.1(c)(8), (d)(1). Within three (3) days of that bond hearing, Respondents shall file a written notice of the outcome of that hearing with this Court. Alternatively, if Respondents contend that this Court's decisions do not control, they shall file an expedited answer within seven (7) days of the date of entry of this Text Order, and Petitioner may file a reply within five (5) days of the date of filing of Respondents' expedited answer. Finally, the Clerk of the Court shall forward a copy of the Petition (ECF No. 1 ), the attachments to the Petition (ECF Nos. 1 -1 through 1 -12), and this Text Order to the Chief, Civil Division, United States Attorney's Office, at the following email address: USANJ-HabeasCases@usdoj.gov. So Ordered by Judge Georgette Castner on 2/10/2026. (jmh) (Entered: 02/10/2026)

#4

Feb 10, 2026

TEXT ORDER: Pursuant to the All Writs Act, see 28 U.S.C. § 1651(a), Respondents SHALL NOT TRANSFER Petitioner from the District of New Jersey, and SHALL NOT REMOVE Petitioner from the United States, pending further order of this Court. So Ordered by Judge Georgette Castner on 2/10/2026. (jmh) (Entered: 02/10/2026)

Feb 10, 2026

Text Order

Feb 10, 2026

Docket Annotation (public)

Feb 10, 2026

3 Text Order and ECF No. 1 emailed to USANJ-HabeasCases@usdoj.gov on 2/10/2026. (jmh)

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Feb 11, 2026

Substitution of Attorney

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Feb 13, 2026

Letter

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Feb 13, 2026

Letter

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Feb 17, 2026

TEXT ORDER: This matter comes before the Court upon Respondents' letter providing the Court with a bond hearing status update. (ECF No. 7 .) The Court previously ordered that Petitioner receive a bond hearing (ECF No. 3) and that Petitioner shall not be transferred from the District of New Jersey or removed from the United States (ECF No. 4 ). The bond hearing has now occurred, and the IJ ordered Petitioner's release on bond. (ECF No. 7 .) However, Respondents informed the Court that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) removed Petitioner from this District after entry of the Court's Order enjoining it from doing so. (Id.) Respondents indicated that ICE was in the process of returning Petitioner to this District on or before February 15, 2025. (Id.) The Court orders Respondents to file written notice confirming Petitioner's return to the District of New Jersey and release within three (3) days of that return. So Ordered by Judge Georgette Castner on 2/17/2026. (jmh) (Entered: 02/17/2026)

Feb 17, 2026

Text Order

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Feb 18, 2026

Letter

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Feb 18, 2026

Letter

#11

Feb 19, 2026

TEXT ORDER: This matter comes before the Court upon the Petitioner's letter asking the Court to order Respondents to immediately remove the ankle monitoring device at his mandatory ISAP appointment and that no further ICE reporting be required. (ECF No. 10 at 1.) Within twenty-four (24) hours of the entry of this Text Order, Respondents shall either: (1) remove the ankle monitoring device (and provide written notice that it has or will remove the device); or (2) file a response to Petitioner's letter providing the legal and factual basis for requiring Petitioner to wear an ankle monitoring device. So Ordered by Judge Georgette Castner on 2/19/2026 (jmh) (Entered: 02/19/2026)

Feb 19, 2026

Text Order

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Feb 20, 2026

Letter

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Feb 23, 2026

TEXT ORDER: This matter comes before the Court on Petitioner's letter requesting that the Court order Respondents immediately remove the ankle monitoring device put on Petitioner prior to his release on bond granted by the IJ and order that no further ICE reporting be required. (ECF No. 10 at 1.) The Court ordered Respondents to file an immediate response (ECF No. 11 ), and the response has been filed (ECF No. 12 ). Respondents argue that ICE has discretion under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), (e) to impose terms of supervised release on a noncitizen granted release on bond (which is a discretionary determination not subject to judicial review) and that regulations permit a noncitizen who disagrees with the terms of release set by ICE to appeal such terms to the IJ. (ECF No. 12 at 1-2.) However, Respondents acknowledge that, in Moreira da Silva v. LaForge, No. 25-17095, 2026 WL 45165 (D.N.J. Jan. 7, 2026), the court "order[ed] respondents to remove conditions of supervised release after [the] immigration court granted bond" (ECF No. 12 n.1). The Moreira da Silva court concluded that it had jurisdiction over the petitioner's challenge because "Petitioner is not challenging ICE's exercise of discretion [which cannot be reviewed under § 1226(e)], but rather, ICE's lack of authority under its own regulations to impose additional conditions of release on him after the Immigration Court released him on bond." Id. at *2. On the merits, the District Court determined that the implementing regulations create a two-level administrative review over conditions of supervised release initially set by any officer authorized to issue a warrant of arrest (i.e., a first level of review is before an IJ and the second level is a BIA appeal) and that "[t]his authority to impose conditions of supervised release is not shared [the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security] across the established appeal procedures." Id. at *4 (addressing 7 C.F.R. §§ 236.1(c)(8), (d), 1236.1(c)(8), (d)(1)). "Therefore, ICE violated its own regulations when, instead of appealing the Immigration Court's Order to the BIA, as it should have, it imposed additional restrictions on Petitioner's supervised release." Id. (citing N-N- v. McShane, No. 25-5494, 2025 WL 3143594, at *2 (E.D. Pa. Nov. 6, 2025)). The court further determined that Moreira da Silva established prejudice (ICE imposed restrictions on his freedom of movement including electronic monitoring). Id. at *2-3. This Court agrees with Moreira Silva. Petitioner's request (ECF No. 10 ) is GRANTED. The Clerk of the Court shall REMAND this matter to DHS/ICE to vacate the additional conditions of release imposed by ICE after the IJ released Petitioner on bond. The Court makes no determination whether the parties may now appeal the IJ's determination to the BIA. See Moreira da Silva, 2025 WL 45165, at *4. Furthermore, the Court LIFTS its Order (ECF No. 4 ) prohibiting Petitioner's transfer from the District of New Jersey and his removal from the United States pending further order of this Court. Having granted Petitioner all available relief, no further issues remain for adjudication. The Clerk of Court shall CLOSE this matter. So Ordered by Judge Georgette Castner on 2/23/2026. (jmh) (Entered: 02/23/2026)

Feb 23, 2026

Terminate Civil Case

Feb 23, 2026

Civil Case Terminated per 13 Text Order. (jmh)

Feb 23, 2026

Text Order

#14

Feb 24, 2026

Notice (Other)

#15

Feb 24, 2026

Letter