District of New Jersey • 2:25-cv-18993

#1

Dec 26, 2025

Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus

Dec 27, 2025

Case Assigned/Reassigned

Dec 27, 2025

Case assigned to Judge Michael E. Farbiarz. (jr)

#2

Dec 29, 2025

TEXT ORDER: The Respondents shall file a brief letter by December 29 at noon indicating whether the petitioner is being held under 8 U.S.C. § 1225 or § 1226 or some other provision. If the Respondents represent that the Petitioner is being held under 8 U.S.C. § 1226, he shall promptly be afforded a bond hearing; if the bond hearing is not conducted before December 30 at 10:00am, the Respondents shall file a letter by then explaining why. If the Respondents represent that the Petitioner is being held under 8 U.S.C. § 1225, the December 29 letter shall indicate why this case is factually distinguishable from the Court's decisions in Chiquito Barzola v. Warden (2:25-cv-17326); Martinez Ron v. Lyons (2:25-cv-17359); and Mboup v. Field Off. Dir. of N.J. Immigr. & Customs Enf't (2:25-cv-16882). If the Respondents do not offer a distinction, or if the Court views any proffered distinction as not a meaningful one, the Court will order a prompt bond hearing, and will order it to take place on or before December 30 at 10:00am. So Ordered by Judge Michael E. Farbiarz on 12/29/2025. (ro, ) (Entered: 12/29/2025)

#3

Dec 29, 2025

STATUS REPORT Confirming Detention Authority by PAMELA BONDI, TODD M LYONS, KRISTI NOEM, LUIS SOTO. (SILAGI, ALEX) (Entered: 12/29/2025)

#4

Dec 29, 2025

Substitution of Attorney

Dec 29, 2025

Order

#5

Dec 30, 2025

Letter

#6

Dec 30, 2025

Letter

#7

Dec 31, 2025

TEXT ORDER: The Respondents have represented that an Immigration Judge ordered the Petitioner's release on bond. See ECF 5 . But the Petitioner says that is still being detained, and that "DHS will not process [his] bond payment or release [him]" because the Department has reserved appeal of the Immigration Judge's Decision. See ECF 6 . The Respondents shall file a letter on or before December 31 at 3:00pm responding to this representation and identifying the basis for the Petitioner's continued detention. If that basis is 8 C.F.R. § 1003.19(i)(2), the Respondent's letter shall also indicate whether there are meaningful differences between this case and that of Lopez v. Soto, 2025 WL 2987485 (D.N.J. Oct. 23, 2025). If there are no proffered meaningful differences, the Petitioner shall be immediately released; if assertedly meaningful differences are proffered, and the Court does not view them as meaningful, the Court will plan to order the Petitioner's immediate release, and the Respondents should be prepared to act promptly on such an order. So Ordered by Judge Michael E. Farbiarz on 12/31/2025. (ro, ) (Entered: 12/31/2025)

#8

Dec 31, 2025

Letter from Respondents RE bond hearing. (GUARRACINO, JESSICA) (Entered: 12/31/2025)

Dec 31, 2025

Order

#9

Jan 02, 2026

Letter

#10

Jan 02, 2026

TEXT ORDER: The Respondents are, first, ordered not to remove the Petitioner from the United States or to directly or indirectly cause the removal of the Petitioner from the United States. The Respondents shall, second, cause the Petitioner to be immediately released from the custody of immigration officials. These two orders are operative now. Each shall be complied with. In addition, the Respondents shall immediately file a letter on the public docket of the Court indicating (1) the precise time that the Petitioner was released and (2) and the location in the United States from which he was released. Finally, on or before January 6 at noon, the Respondents shall provide a detailed factual recitation that explains what has happened with respect to the Petitioner in the days since the Court's December 30 order was issued. Where he has been, for example, and why there has seemingly been slowness in effecting his release. The factual recitation shall be in the form of an affidavit personally signed by the Respondents' counsel, made after he has conducted a sufficient investigation as to what has transpired.. So Ordered by Judge Michael E. Farbiarz on 1/2/2026. (ro, ) (Entered: 01/02/2026)

Jan 02, 2026

Order

#11

Jan 03, 2026

Status Report

#12

Jan 06, 2026

Declaration

#13

Jan 06, 2026

TEXT ORDER: The public has a right to court records. See Press-Enter. Co. v. Superior Court, 478 U.S. 1, 13-14 (1986). The right can sometimes be overcome, and a court filing can be sealed. The Respondents have filed a letter at ECF 11 under seal and a declaration at ECF 12 under seal. It is not clear how these documents might meet the legal standards for sealing. Should the Respondents wish to seal the referenced materials, they shall file a motion for sealing. It shall be supported by a letter brief that musters the relevant legal authorities, and a personal-knowledge factual declaration that provides substantiation as to any sensitivities of a security nature or any other nature that are relied on as a basis for sealing. The motion and the associated materials shall be filed on or before January 8 at 4:30pm. If no filing is received by then, the Court will order the unsealing of ECF 11 and ECF 12 . So Ordered by Judge Michael E. Farbiarz on 1/6/26. (ro, ) (Entered: 01/06/2026)

Jan 06, 2026

Order

#14

Jan 08, 2026

Seal

#15

Jan 08, 2026

Letter

Jan 08, 2026

Set/Reset Motion and R&R Deadlines/Hearings

Jan 08, 2026

Set Deadlines as to 14 MOTION to Seal in Part ECF No. 12 and to Seal the Declaration and Letter Brief in Support of This Motion to Seal. Motion set for 2/2/2026 before Judge Michael E. Farbiarz. 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. (mj)

#16

Jan 12, 2026

TEXT ORDER: The Respondents filed a document wholly under seal, see ECF 12, the Court ordered that an explanation be provided as to why that had been done, see ECF 13, and the Respondents have now filed materials indicating that three paragraphs of the ECF 12 document should be filed under seal. See ECF 15 . As to those three ECF 12 paragraphs, sealing is appropriate. The Respondent shall promptly file on the Court's public docket a version of ECF 12 that redacts only the three relevant paragraphs. This resolves the ECF 14 motion. So Ordered by Judge Michael E. Farbiarz on 1/12/26. (ro, ) (Entered: 01/12/2026)

#17

Jan 12, 2026

Declaration

Jan 12, 2026

Order

#18

Jan 20, 2026

Letter

#19

Jan 23, 2026

TEXT ORDER: The Respondents' request at ECF 18 is granted. ECF 15 shall be permanently sealed. So Ordered by Judge Michael E. Farbiarz on 1/23/26. (ro, ) (Entered: 01/23/2026)

Jan 23, 2026

Text Order

#20

Feb 11, 2026

TEXT ORDER: A petition was filed, see ECF 1, a bail hearing was ordered, see ECF 2, and it was conducted. See ECF 5 . The Petitioner was then released from custody. See ECF 11 . Therefore, it appears that the petition should be dismissed. If a party has a different view, it should explain why in a brief letter, to be filed on or before February 13 at 5:00pm. If no persuasive letter is received, the petition will be promptly dismissed. So Ordered by Judge Michael E. Farbiarz on 2/11/2026. (ro, ) (Entered: 02/11/2026)

Feb 11, 2026

Text Order

#21

Feb 13, 2026

Letter

#22

Feb 17, 2026

TEXT ORDER: The Petitioner shall file a letter on or before February 20 at noon explaining the basis for the Petitioner's standing with respect to his request at ECF 21 . See City of L.A. v. Lyons, 461 U.S. 95, 111-13 (1983). So Ordered by Judge Michael E. Farbiarz on 2/17/2026. (ro, ) (Entered: 02/17/2026)

Feb 17, 2026

Text Order

#23

Feb 20, 2026

Letter

Feb 24, 2026

Text Order