District of New Jersey • 3:26-cv-04931

#1

May 01, 2026

First PETITION for Writ of Habeas Corpus ( Filing fee $ 5 receipt number ANJDC-17377162.), filed by ERIKA ANNABEL MATUTE TAPIA. (Attachments: # 1 Civil Cover Sheet Civil Cover Sheet)(ROMERO, CUSTODIO) (Entered: 05/01/2026)

#2

May 01, 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 5/1/2026. (jml, ) (Entered: 05/01/2026)

May 01, 2026

Emergent Immigration Habeas Non-transfer Order

May 01, 2026

Add and Terminate Judges

May 01, 2026

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

May 01, 2026

Judge Georgette Castner added. (jml, )

May 01, 2026

Notice of Judicial Preferences

#3

May 04, 2026

TEXT ORDER: This matter is before the Court on the Petitioner's petition (Petition) for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241. (ECF No. 1 .) Petitioner indicates that she is being unlawfully held in mandatory detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b). (Id. at 2, 6.) According to Petitioner, she has never been detained, charged, or convicted of any criminal offenses, and she has complied with her U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE") reporting requirements. (Id. at 7.) On February 17, 2026, ICE arrested Petitioner when she arrived for her regular ICE check-in, her asylum application was closed, and she has been detained at Delaney Hall Contract Detention Facility in Newark, New Jersey. (Id. at 1-2.) Based on Petitioner's allegations and this Court's recent decisions in Chen v. Soto, No. 25-17198, 2025 WL 3527239 (D.N.J. Dec. 9, 2025), Marcilla 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 (D.N.J. Jan. 28, 2026), the Court holds that Petitioner is subject to detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) and that Respondents have unlawfully detained Petitioner under § 1225(b) in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act and her Fifth Amendment right to due process. See also Rivera Zumba v. Bondi, No. 25-14626, 2025 WL 2753496 (D.N.J. Sept. 26, 2025); Quintanar Hernandez v. Bondi, No. 26-4096, ECF No. 4 (D.N.J. Apr. 17, 2026). "Moreover, although 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) permits discretionary detention of noncitizens based on flight risk or dangerousness, it appears that Respondents have detained Petitioner under a flawed interpretation of § 1225(b)(2), which has been rejected by numerous Courts in this District; this Court will not correct Respondents' unlawful detention under § 1225(b)(2) by converting Petitioner's detention to a 'potentially lawful alternate form under a different statute with different procedural requirements and rules.'" Alvarez Hererra v. Soto, No. 26-2482, ECF No. 6 (D.N.J. Apr. 22, 2026) (quoting Fajardo-Nugra v. Soto, No. 26-975, 2026 WL 579192, at *2 (D.N.J. Mar. 2, 2026) (granting petitioner's habeas petition and ordering his release based on respondents' flawed application of § 1225(b)(2))); see also Beteta Beteta v. Blanche, No. 26- 4132, ECF No. 4 (D.N.J. Apr. 20, 2026) (same). The Court thus GRANTS the Petition (ECF No. 1 ), and ORDERS that, within forty-eight (48) hours of the time of entry of this Text Order, Respondents SHALL RELEASE Petitioner under the same conditions, if any, that existed prior to her detention. Within twenty four (24) hours of Petitioner's release, Respondents shall file a status report confirming the time of Petitioner's release. Alternatively, if Respondents contend that Petitioner's case is legally distinguishable from those cases cited herein, or that she has misrepresented her criminal history, they shall file an expedited answer within twenty-four (24) hours of the time of entry of this Text Order. The Clerk of the Court shall forward a copy of the Petition (ECF No. 1 ), the attachment to the Petition (ECF No. 1 -1), 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 5/4/2026. (jmh) (Entered: 05/04/2026)

#4

May 04, 2026

NOTICE of Appearance by SANDRA ANN BOBER on behalf of TODD BLANCHE, RANDI BORGEN, MARKWAYNE MULLIN (BOBER, SANDRA) (Entered: 05/04/2026)

#5

May 04, 2026

Letter

May 04, 2026

Docket Annotation (public)

May 04, 2026

Text Order

May 04, 2026

3 Text Order and ECF No. 1 emailed to USANJ-HabeasCases@usdoj.gov on 5/4/2026. (jmh)

May 06, 2026

Order of Dismissal AND Text Order