District of New Jersey • 3:26-cv-03338

#1

Mar 28, 2026

Emergency PETITION for Writ of Habeas Corpus ( Filing fee $ 5 receipt number ANJDC-17250813.), filed by MARIO JOSE DE LEON TOHOM. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A, # 2 Exhibit B, # 3 Exhibit C, # 4 Exhibit D, # 5 Exhibit E, # 6 Exhibit F, # 7 Certificate of Service, # 8 Supplement Notice of Appearance, # 9 Brief, # 10 Civil Cover Sheet)(SANTAMARIA, STERLING) (Entered: 03/28/2026)

#2

Mar 28, 2026

Emergency MOTION for Order to Show Cause by MARIO JOSE DE LEON TOHOM. (SANTAMARIA, STERLING) (Entered: 03/28/2026)

#3

Mar 29, 2026

TEXT ORDER. Respondents are hereby enjoined from transferring Petitioner from New Jersey pending further Order of the Court. So Ordered by Chief Judge Renee Marie Bumb on 3/29/2026. (jml, ) (Entered: 03/29/2026)

Mar 29, 2026

Add and Terminate Judges

Mar 29, 2026

Emergent Immigration Habeas Non-transfer Order

Mar 29, 2026

Notice of Judicial Preferences

Mar 29, 2026

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

Mar 29, 2026

Judge Georgette Castner added. (jml, )

#4

Mar 30, 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 moves for an order to show cause ("OTSC") (Motion for OTSC). (ECF No. 2 ). Chief Judge Renee Marie Bumb entered a Text Order enjoining Respondents from transferring Petitioner from New Jersey pending further Order of the Court. (ECF No. 3 .) 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. The Motion for OTSC is DENIED as moot, and the Clerk of the Court shall TERMINATE the Motion pending at ECF No. 2. According to Petitioner, Respondents are detaining Petitioner under the mandatory detention provisions of 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b), pursuant to a July 8, 2025 Department of Homeland Security memorandum and the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals in Matter of Yajure Hurtado, 29 I. & N. Dec. 216 (BIA 2025). (ECF No. 1 -9 at 7-9.) 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) on or about March 20, 2021, near El Paso, Texas, Petitioner entered the United States without inspection and has continuously resided in Trenton, New Jersey since his entry; (2) Petitioner is the sole source of financial support for his partner and two children, including a second U.S. citizen son who was born in September 2025; (3) Petitioner has no criminal history; and (4) on February 7, 2026, in the interior of the United States, Petitioner was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers at a traffic stop. (ECF No. 1 Paras. 1, 24-27; ECF No. 1-9 at 2.) 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). Petitioner's counsel shall have notice of the bond hearing, a reasonable opportunity to prepare, and be permitted to reschedule the hearing without seeking this Court's intervention. 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 1-10), the Motion for OTSC (ECF No. 2 ), 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 3/30/2026. (jmh) (Entered: 03/30/2026)

Mar 30, 2026

4 Text Order and ECF No. 1 and 2 emailed to USANJ-HabeasCases@usdoj.gov on 3/30/2026. (jmh)

Mar 30, 2026

Text Order

Mar 30, 2026

Docket Annotation (public)

Mar 30, 2026

Set Deadlines as to 2 Emergency MOTION for Order to Show Cause . Motion set for 5/4/2026 before Judge Georgette Castner. Unless otherwise directed by the Court, this motion will be decided on the papers and no appearances are required. Note that this is an automatically generated message from the Clerk`s Office and does not supersede any previous or subsequent orders from the Court. (mlh)

Mar 30, 2026

Set/Reset Motion and R&R Deadlines/Hearings

#5

Apr 02, 2026

Notice of Appearance

#6

Apr 02, 2026

Letter

#7

Apr 07, 2026

Motion to Quash/Compel/Enforce

#8

Apr 07, 2026

Letter

Apr 07, 2026

Set Deadlines as to 7 MOTION to Quash/Compel/Enforce . Motion set for 5/4/2026 before Judge Georgette Castner. Unless otherwise directed by the Court, this motion will be decided on the papers and no appearances are required. Note that this is an automatically generated message from the Clerk`s Office and does not supersede any previous or subsequent orders from the Court. (arm)

Apr 07, 2026

Set/Reset Motion and R&R Deadlines/Hearings

#9

Apr 08, 2026

TEXT ORDER: This matter comes before the Court on Petitioner's Emergent Motion to Quash/Compel/Enforce ("Emergent Motion"). (ECF No. 7 ). Within three (3) days of the date of entry of this Text Order, Respondents shall file a response to the Emergent Motion and submit the transcript or recording of the bond hearing as well as any documents reflecting the factual and/or legal bases for the IJ's decision to deny bond. So Ordered by Judge Georgette Castner on 4/8/2026. (jmh) (Entered: 04/08/2026)

Apr 08, 2026

Text Order

#10

Apr 13, 2026

Response in Opposition to Motion

#11

Apr 15, 2026

Letter

#12

Apr 16, 2026

TEXT ORDER: This matter comes before the Court on Petitioner's Motion to Quash/Compel/Enforce (Motion to Enforce) and Respondents' opposition to this Motion to Enforce. (ECF Nos. 7 & 10 .) Pursuant to this Court's March 30, 2026 Text Order, an immigration judge ("IJ") conducted a bond hearing under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) and denied release on bond on the grounds that Petitioner presented a flight risk. (See ECF No. 7 Para. 5.) This Court has jurisdiction to review whether a bond hearing was fundamentally unfair and thus violated the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. See Ghanem v. Essex Cnty. Corr. Facility, No. 21-1908, 2022 WL 574624, at *2 (3d Cir. Feb. 25, 2022) (not precedential). "In a fundamentally fair bond hearing, due process has three essential elements. 'An alien: (1) is entitled to fact finding based on a record produced before the decision maker and disclosed to him or her; (2) must be allowed to make arguments on his or her own behalf; and (3) has the right to an individualized determination of his [or her] interests.'" Id. (alteration in original) (quoting Kamara v. Att'y Gen. of U.S., 420 F.3d 202, 211 (3d Cir. 2005)). The bond hearing was fundamentally unfair because the IJ held Petitioner to a heightened and incorrect burden of proof. See Zheng v. Rokosky, No. 26-1689, 2026 WL 800203, at *4 (D.N.J. Mar. 23, 2026) (indicating that a bond hearing is not individualized if the IJ applies the incorrect legal standards). According to the IJ, Petitioner had the burden to show by "clear and convincing evidence" that he was neither a danger nor a flight risk. (See ECF No. 11 -1 at 3:18-23; 8:20-24.) But it is well established that, "under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), an alien may be detained so long as she is provided a bond hearing upon request at which she can secure release by showing by a preponderance of the evidence that she is neither a danger nor a flight risk." Ramos v. Soto, No. 25-15315, 2025 WL 3251447, at *1 (D.N.J. Nov. 21, 2025) (emphasis added) (citing Borbot v. Warden Hudson Cnty. Corr. Facility, 906 F.3d 274, 278-79 (3d Cir. 2018)). "Because the [bond hearing] did not provide the constitutionally required process and failed to satisfy this Court's [March 30, 2026 Text Order]," the Court declines to order a second bond hearing and instead concludes that the appropriate relief is immediate release from immigration detention. Barberan Carrion v. Field Office Dir. of Immigr. & Customs Enf't, No. 26-0004, 2026 WL 735195, at *3 (D.N.J. Mar. 16, 2026). The Motion to Enforce (ECF No. 7 ) is GRANTED. The Clerk of the Court shall TERMINATE the Motion pending at ECF No. 7 . Within twenty-four (24) hours of the time of entry of this Text Order, Respondents SHALL RELEASE Petitioner from immigration detention, subject to the prior terms of supervision, if any, in effect at the time he was detained, return all personal documents currently retained by ICE or its agents, and provide written notice to the Court of Petitioner's release from custody and the return of his documents. It is further Ordered that the Clerk's Office is directed to close this case. So Ordered by Judge Georgette Castner on 4/16/2026. (jmh) (Entered: 04/16/2026)

#13

Apr 16, 2026

Letter

Apr 16, 2026

Text Order AND ~Util - Terminate Motions

Apr 16, 2026

Civil Case Terminated per 12 Text Order. (jmh)

Apr 16, 2026

Terminate Civil Case