A federal judge in Minnesota said he had concerns about the government's authority to keep an Ecuadorian asylum seeker in detention and ordered the case transferred to New Mexico "for further proceedings," while also ruling the Minnesota court lacked jurisdiction to decide the merits.
U.S. District Judge Donovan W. Frank, in a memorandum opinion and order dated Jan. 28, granted the government's request to move the case to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico.
The petitioner, identified in court filings as a citizen of Ecuador, has been present in the United States since August 2024 and has a pending asylum application, the order said. The judge noted the man was previously held by immigration authorities, issued a Notice to Appear and released, and later granted interim parole.
According to the order, the petitioner was arrested Jan. 10 during a regular check-in with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minnesota. He was initially detained in Minnesota, then transferred to El Paso, Texas, and later moved to Estancia, New Mexico. Frank wrote that the petitioner was detained in New Mexico at the time the petition was filed on Jan. 23 and appeared to still be held there when the court ruled.
The petition argued his detention was unlawful under the Fifth Amendment's Due Process Clause and the Administrative Procedure Act. It asked the court to order the petitioner's return to Minnesota and release and sought attorney fees and costs under the Equal Access to Justice Act.
Frank cited the general rule that a habeas petition must be filed in the district of confinement, pointing to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Rumsfeld v. Padilla. The judge explained that an exception can apply when the government moves a detainee after a properly filed petition, but he found that did not fit here because the petitioner acknowledged he was already in New Mexico when he filed.
Frank also described another exception recognized when the government relocates a detainee to make it difficult for counsel to determine where to file or when officials are not forthcoming about the place of detention. In this case, however, Frank wrote there was no evidence the petitioner's moves were meant to obstruct filing, and his location was known. The judge also noted the petitioner had a master hearing scheduled Feb. 3 before an immigration judge in New Mexico, suggesting his location was not likely to change in the near term.
Without a basis to establish jurisdiction in Minnesota, Frank said the case would be transferred to New Mexico, where the detainee was being held, and directed the clerk to effectuate the transfer.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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