Reference

Decisions

Decisions on one question: Zadvydas.

These are the decisions in the register tagged with this issue. A decision often answers more than one question, so the same case may appear under more than one heading. Show the whole register instead.

Torres v. Warden

Relief granted

S.D. Fla. August 21, 2026 Third country: Mexico

The revocation notice cited an unchanged file, an unchanged interview, and bedspace availability, and the claimed interview came more than four months late, so the re-detention violated the regulation; release ordered.

Redetention Notice Informal interview Zadvydas

Caution The Zadvydas claim was held premature at 120 days because this court does not aggregate detentions, and the brief sets out the split on aggregation. The account of the March 9, 2026 bus trip toward the Mexican border is the petitioner's, credited as the record before the court on an unopposed point, not a judicial finding. No reporter or unofficial citation is printed in the brief.

M.D. Fla. March 20, 2026 2026 WL 787639 Third country: Mexico

Because ICE gave written notice and an informal interview, the petitioner received what the Fifth Amendment requires, and his Zadvydas claim was premature at four months; the petition was denied.

Redetention Notice Informal interview Zadvydas Jurisdiction 1252(g) Jurisdiction 1252(b)(9)

Caution Denied without prejudice to refiling after six months. This is a different petitioner from Chavez Barrios v. Ripa and the brief warns that the two Barrios cases must be kept separate in every list.

Douglas v. Baker

Relief granted

D. Md. October 24, 2025 2025 WL 2687354 Third country: United Kingdom

Because the government produced no evidence of any step taken to effectuate removal to the United Kingdom or anywhere else, there is no significant likelihood of removal in the reasonably foreseeable future and the writ issues.

Redetention Zadvydas Withholding Third-country designation

Caution The earlier September 19, 2025 opinion in the same case, which held the court had jurisdiction and denied relief at that time, is not in the file; this order does not bar removal and does not address what process is due before a third-country removal; no reporter or unofficial citation is printed for this document; the supplied file name carries the date 20251025 although the document is dated October 24, 2025.

Zakzouk v. Becerra

Interim relief granted

N.D. Cal. October 10, 2025 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 201666; 2025 WL 2899220 Third country: Jordan

Serious questions exist that the petitioner may not be detained without notice and a hearing before an immigration judge, or removed to a third country without notice and an opportunity to apply for fear-based relief.

Redetention Notice Third-country designation CAT deferral Zadvydas Jurisdiction 1252(g) Jurisdiction 1252(a)(5) Jurisdiction 1252(b)(9)

Caution Preliminary injunction on a 'serious questions' showing, not a final merits ruling; issued by a magistrate judge, and the file does not state whether the parties consented; the supplied file is named for the July 26, 2025 temporary restraining order but contains the October 10, 2025 order.

Villanueva v. Tate

Relief granted

S.D. Tex. September 26, 2025 2025 WL 2774610

ICE re-detained the petitioner without a shown lawful revocation, notice of reasons, or the required informal interview, and his removal is not reasonably foreseeable; release was ordered with notice required once a third country is identified.

Redetention Informal interview Notice Zadvydas Withholding Third-country designation Jurisdiction 1252(g)

Caution The third-country notice claim was held premature even as summary judgment on it was denied, and no fixed notice period was set; final judgment was to be entered separately and is not in the file; the government produced no copy of any order revoking supervision; the court noted a split on whether the six-month period resets on re-detention.

Douglas v. Baker

Relief denied

D. Md. September 19, 2025 2025 WL 2687354 Third country: United Kingdom

The court held that it had jurisdiction, that the petitioner had not yet carried his burden to show a Zadvydas violation, and ordered the government to produce information about efforts to effectuate his removal.

Redetention Zadvydas Withholding Third-country designation

Caution Not read directly; known only as summarised in the October 24, 2025 opinion in the same case, which later granted the writ. The brief does not separately name the judge for this order, describing it as 'this Court's' prior opinion.

Y.T.D. v. Andrews

Relief granted in part

E.D. Cal. September 18, 2025 2025 WL 2675760 Third country: Kenya, Eritrea, Somalia, or Benin (mentioned to the petitioner; none secured)

The court enjoined third-country removal without written notice, a minimum of ten days to raise a Convention Against Torture claim, and reopening or fifteen days to seek reopening, but declined to order release under Zadvydas.

Notice Third-country designation CAT deferral Withholding Zadvydas Bond hearing Jurisdiction 1252(g) Assurances

Caution Preliminary injunction converted from a temporary restraining order with merits briefing to follow, although the decretal paragraph says 'permanently enjoined'; the bond hearing within 30 days, which the government requested, appears in the analysis but not in the numbered decretal paragraphs; the judge is not named anywhere in the printout; the assurances material comes from the court's quotation of ICE's July 9, 2025 policy, not from any assurance in this case.

Tang v. Bondi

Relief granted in part

W.D. Wash. September 11, 2025 2025 WL 2637750

Total detention exceeding six months is not presumptively reasonable, and the petitioner is likely to show no significant likelihood of removal to Vietnam because he facially fails the memorandum of understanding's eligibility conditions; release ordered.

Redetention Zadvydas

Caution Preliminary injunction on likelihood of success, entered while the habeas petition and the government's motion to dismiss remained pending; the request for an order barring future arrest was denied; the two supplied files are duplicates of the same order and are merged into this one entry; the statelessness finding rests on a 1983 document and the petitioner's testimony, and the court decided the point only on likelihood of success.

Zavvar v. Scott

Relief granted in part

D. Md. September 8, 2025 2025 WL 2592543 Third country: Australia and Romania

Detention is not authorized by section 1231(a)(6) because, with withholding granted as to Iran and no response from Australia or Romania, there is no significant likelihood of removal in the reasonably foreseeable future.

Redetention Zadvydas Withholding Third-country designation Notice Jurisdiction 1252(g)

Caution The six-month Zadvydas presumption was assumed without deciding to apply; the third-country notice claim was stayed because the petitioner is a D.V.D. class member, so the court did not rule on what process is due before a third-country removal; the separate order carrying the decretal terms of release is not in the file.

Nguyen v. Scott

Interim relief granted

W.D. Wash. August 21, 2025 2025 WL 2419288

The court found the petitioner likely to succeed on his Zadvydas claim and ordered his release, rejected the argument that detention must be consecutive, and found ICE's third-country removal policy likely inconsistent with Ninth Circuit precedent.

Redetention Zadvydas Third-country designation Notice

Caution Not read directly; described and quoted in the printouts of Tang v. Bondi, Villanueva v. Tate, and Y.T.D. v. Andrews, and in the D.V.D. indicative ruling. Tang distinguished it. Evidence recited in Tang indicates Vietnam issued a travel document for this petitioner on September 3, 2025, after the order.

Yuhua Yang v. Kaiser

Relief granted in part

E.D. Cal. August 20, 2025 2025 WL 2791778

The re-detention was unlawful because ICE gave no informal interview and showed no changed circumstances making removal to China reasonably foreseeable; release was ordered and re-detention barred without notice and a pre-detention hearing before an immigration judge.

Redetention Informal interview Notice Zadvydas Third-country designation Jurisdiction 1252(g)

Caution Temporary restraining order granted in part on a preliminary record, with a preliminary-injunction schedule to follow; the request to enjoin third-country removal was denied without prejudice as not ripe; the order introduces 'five claims' and then lists six, and several regulatory citations are printed irregularly.

Chavez Barrios v. Ripa

Interim relief denied

S.D. Fla. August 8, 2025 2025 WL 2280485; 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 153228 Third country: Guatemala

The emergency motion was denied: section 241.4(l)(2) required no notice or interview and both were in fact given, the Zadvydas claim was premature, and the regulatory stay barred removal to Mexico only.

Redetention Informal interview Notice Zadvydas CAT deferral Third-country designation Jurisdiction 1252(g) Transfer out of district Bond hearing

Caution The brief records that this decision resolves the project's ledger claim 10 against the version previously carried: the motion was denied, and no appellate stay is supported, only the district court's interim order of June 12, 2025 staying transfer and removal. The decision splits from Grigorian, Zhu, Ceesay and Torres on whether section 241.4(l)(1) process attaches to an (l)(2) revocation, and from Gonzalez v. Noem and Zhu on jurisdiction to restrain a transfer.

Ortega v. Kaiser

Interim relief granted

N.D. Cal. August 6, 2025 2025 WL 2243616

Serious questions exist that due process bars detention or removal to any third country without notice and an opportunity to present a fear-based claim; sections 1252(g), (a)(5), (b)(9) and FARRA do not bar review.

Redetention Notice Third-country designation CAT deferral Zadvydas Jurisdiction 1252(g) Jurisdiction 1252(a)(5) Jurisdiction 1252(b)(9)

Caution Preliminary injunction on the 'serious questions' standard, converted from a temporary restraining order by consent; every merits finding is framed as a serious question and none is final; no third country is identified anywhere in the file, and the court did not identify the governing detention statute by number.

Nguyen v. Scott

Relief granted in part

W.D. Wash. July 30, 2025 2025 WL 2165995

The court restrained removal to any country other than Vietnam pending a preliminary-injunction ruling, relief the government did not oppose, and denied immediate release as falling outside the limited purpose of a temporary restraining order.

Redetention Zadvydas Third-country designation

Caution Interim order that replaced a July 25, 2025 ex parte order and was to last only until a written order on the preliminary injunction; the court expressly declined to elaborate on the merits of the third-country claims and gave the government more time to rebut the Zadvydas showing; the government conceded that its revocation notice was incorrect; the Tang order cites this decision as decided July 20, 2025 although the document reads 'Signed July 30, 2025'.

Aden v. Nielsen

Relief granted in part

W.D. Wash. December 6, 2019 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 210865; 2019 WL 6683512 Third country: Somalia

The government's position was not substantially justified, and the court awarded $36,720 in fees and $2,170 in expenses at $450 per hour under the Equal Access to Justice Act.

Attorney fees Notice Third-country designation

Caution Fees were denied for the unsuccessful motion-to-enforce phase. The brief notes that a Fifth Circuit decision cited elsewhere in the collection holds the Act does not authorize fees for successful section 2241 motions, so fee recovery depends on the circuit.

Aden v. Nielsen

Relief granted in part

W.D. Wash. June 20, 2019 409 F. Supp. 3d 998; 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 103569; 2019 WL 2548137 Third country: Somalia

DHS may designate a removal country outside removal proceedings, but designating Somalia without notice or an opportunity to be heard violated due process, so proceedings must be reopened before any removal there.

Redetention Notice Third-country designation Withholding CAT deferral Jurisdiction 1252(a)(5) Bond hearing Zadvydas

Caution The four-step notice procedure often attributed to this case comes from subsection D of the magistrate judge's report, which the district judge did not adopt; the court's statement that failing to advise of the right to apply for asylum or withholding is itself a due process violation is hedged as what Ninth Circuit case law 'suggests'; the court held detention was not indefinite under Zadvydas and granted only a bond hearing on that score. Any account presenting the case as forbidding administrative designation misstates it.

Ali v. Barlow

Relief denied

E.D. Va. August 28, 2006 446 F. Supp. 2d 604

The petition was premature because the six-month post-removal period had not run, and ICE's active steps to secure a third country defeated the claim that removal was not significantly likely.

Zadvydas CAT deferral Third-country designation

Caution Adverse authority, and the brief carries it as such. Pre-removal custody does not count toward the six months. The petitioner was cooperating with ICE's efforts and consented to removal to a third country, so nothing in the case addresses removal over objection, without notice, or to a state where the person fears harm. The brief describes the grant only as 'CAT relief' without specifying withholding or deferral, and it does not print the decretal disposition.

This register lists decisions the Coalition has read. It is not a complete list of decisions on these questions, and a decision listed here may have been appealed, stayed, or superseded since it was entered. Follow the link on each entry for the court's own text.