Southern District of California • 3:26-cv-01161

#1

Feb 23, 2026

Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus against Pamela Jo Bondi, Jeremy Casey, Todd M. Lyons, Kristi Noem, Jesus Rocha, No Fee Required, filed by Shishay Haile-Shiferaw. (Attachments: # 1 Civil Cover Sheet, # 2 Exhibit A, # 3 Exhibit B)The new case number is 3:26-cv-1161-JO-BJW. Judge Jinsook Ohta and Magistrate Judge Brian J. White are assigned to the case. (Katie Hurrelbrink)(anh) (Entered: 02/24/2026)

#2

Feb 24, 2026

Minute Order by Judge Jinsook Ohta: On February 23, 2026, Petitioner filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus requesting injunctive relief. Dkt. 1. The Court ORDERS Petitioner to serve Respondents with the habeas petition [Dkt. 1] by 5:00 PM on February 27, 2026, and file proof of service. Petitioner must also serve the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California by a method prescribed in Rule 4(i)(1)(A) by that date and file proof of service.The Court ORDERS Respondents TO SHOW CAUSE why the petition should not be granted by filing a written response no later than 5:00 PM on Friday, March 6, 2026. The Court further ORDERS Respondents to file, as exhibits to their response, the complete set of Petitioner's immigration records necessary for adjudication of this habeas petition, including all Department of Homeland Security records, immigration court documents, arrest or custody records, and any other materials pertaining to Petitioner's detention, processing, or removal proceedings. Unless Respondents concede that Petitioner is entitled to the complete relief requested in the habeas petition, Respondents must comply with this order by filing the complete set of Petitioner's immigration records.The Court SETS a hearing with oral argument for Thursday, March 12, 2026 at 9:30 AM. All parties may appear by videoconference for the hearing. The courtroom deputy will provide the videoconference information ahead of the hearing, which will proceed unless the Court issues a written decision on the merits ahead of the hearing date. Parties are directed to check the docket at 5:00 PM the day before to the hearing.The Court ORDERS that Petitioner shall not be transferred out of this District unless Respondents provide advance notice of the intended move. Such notice shall be filed in writing on the docket in this proceeding and shall state the reason why Respondents believe that such a movement is necessary and should not be stayed pending further court proceedings. Once that notice has been docketed, Petitioner SHALL NOT be moved out of this District for a period of at least 48 hours from the time of that docketing. Signed by Judge Jinsook Ohta on 2/24/2026. (rh) (Entered: 02/24/2026)

Feb 24, 2026

Minute Order (No Time) AND ~Util - Set Motion and R&R Deadlines/Hearings

#3

Feb 26, 2026

Notice of Appearance

#4

Feb 27, 2026

Notice (Other)

#5

Mar 06, 2026

Response - Other

#6

Mar 10, 2026

Minute Order by Judge Jinsook Ohta: Petitioner Shishay Haile-Shiferaw, an Eritrean citizen who came to the United States to seek asylum, seeks habeas relief from his prolonged detention following a final removal order. See Dkt. 1. He also challenges the Department of Homeland Security's ("DHS") third-country removal procedures on grounds that they deny him adequate notice and a meaningful opportunity to seek protection before removal to a third country where he may face persecution or torture. Id. For the reasons stated below, the Court GRANTS the habeas petition.1. On January 1, 2025, Petitioner entered the United States illegally to seek asylum. Dkt. 1-2 ¶ 1; Dkt. 5-1 ¶ 6. He was immediately detained by immigration officials and placed in expedited removal proceedings pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(1). Dkt. 5-1 ¶¶ 6-7. On January 30, 2025, an asylum officer determined that Petitioner had a credible fear of persecution if returned to Eritria. Id. ¶ 8. As a result, DHS placed Petitioner into standard removal proceedings under § 240 of the Immigration and Nationality Act and continued to hold him in custody pending those proceedings. Id. ¶ 9; see 8 U.S.C. § 1229a; 8 CFR § 208.30. On July 30, 2025, an Immigration Judge ("IJ") ordered him removed but granted withholding of removal to Eritrea, the only country designated in the removal order. Id. ¶ 10. Neither Petitioner nor the government appealed, so the order became final on August 30, 2025. Id. ¶ 11. Because the IJ granted withholding relief as to Eritrea, DHS has sought a third country for Petitioner's removal. Id. ¶¶ 12-16. In the meantime, Petitioner has remained detained for over seven months since the final removal order.2. Jurisdiction: For the reasons stated in Pacheco v. LaRose, No. 3:25-CV-2421-JO-AHG, 2026 WL 242300, *2-*3 (S.D. Cal. Jan. 29, 2026), the Court finds that 8 U.S.C. § 1252(g) does not bar Petitioner's collateral challenge to the constitutionality of his current detention. As courts have consistently found, a challenge to continued detention pending removal does not intrude on the government's discretion to decide "when" or "whether" to execute a removal order and falls outside § 1252(g)'s scope. See Phakeokoth v. Noem, No. 3:25-cv-02817-RBM-SBC, 2025 WL 3124341, at *3 (S.D. Cal. Nov. 7, 2025); Esmaeili v. Noem, No. 26-CV-0203-GPC-JLB, 2026 WL 240661 (S.D. Cal. Jan. 29, 2026).3. Claim One (Zadvydas): The Court finds that Petitioner's continued detention violates his substantive due process rights under Zadvydas v. Davis, 533 U.S. 678, 701 (2001) (after the six-month presumptively reasonable period following a final removal order, continued detention is lawful only if the government rebuts the noncitizen's showing that there is no significant likelihood of removal in the reasonably foreseeable future). Petitioner has been detained for more than seven months since the August 30, 2025 final removal order, and the government has made almost no progress toward removal to a third country. Dkt. 5-1 ¶¶ 12-16. ERO San Diego Field Office has been advised on three separate occasions, on (1) December 10, 2025; (2) February 17, 2026; and (3) March 2, 2026, that Petitioner is being "considered for a third country removal," but no third country has been identified. See id. Respondents concede that there is no significant likelihood that removal is reasonably foreseeable. Dkt. 5 at 2. Given the government's failure to identify a third country despite repeated inquiries and the government's concession, the Court finds that Petitioner has shown---and the government has not rebutted---that removal is not reasonably foreseeable. Zadvydas, 533 U.S. at 701. Therefore, Petitioner's continued detention is unlawful under Zadvydas, and he is entitled to immediate release.4. Claim Two (Third Country Removal): The Court finds that Petitioner's third country removal claim is ripe for review. ICE has an outstanding request to identify a third country for Petitioner and is actively searching for one, placing him at a concrete, particularized and actual risk of eventual third country removal under current DHS procedures. See Geo Grp., Inc. v. Newsom, 50 F.4th 745, 753 (9th Cir. 2022) (quoting Lujan v. Defs. of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 560 (1992)) (to satisfy Article III standing, an injury "must be 'concrete and particularized' and 'actual or imminent, not "conjectural" or "hypothetical'"). Further, for the reasons stated in Esmail v. Noem, No. 2:25-CV-08325-WLH-RAO, 2025 WL 3030589, *6-*7 (C.D. Cal. Sept. 26, 2025) and Kumar v. Wamsley, No. C25-2055-KKE, --- F.Supp3d. ---, 2025 WL 3204724, *4-*5 (W.D. Wash. Nov. 17, 2025), the Court finds that current DHS third-country removal procedures violate Petitioner's due process rights because they (1) do not require DHS to affirmatively ask whether he fears removal to the designated third country and (2) permit removal within 24 hours of providing notice of the designated third country. The Court's ruling and injunctive terms are set forth in a separate order at Dkt. 7. Signed by Judge Jinsook Ohta on 03/10/2026. (rh) (Entered: 03/10/2026)

#7

Mar 10, 2026

Order

Mar 10, 2026

Minute Order (No Time) AND ~Util - Terminate Motion and R&R Deadlines/Hearings

#8

Mar 16, 2026

Status Report