Overview
- U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi ordered Diana Elizabeth Cartagena Hueso released immediately after finding her re-detention unlawful.
- He recorded a concession from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey that 72 immigration habeas orders were violated.
- The judge warned he will require DOJ and DHS officials to show cause and testify under oath if similar unauthorized detentions recur.
- His opinion held that releasing Cartagena Hueso in 2016 and leaving her free for years extinguished the government's mandatory-detention authority.
- Cartagena Hueso, a 29-year-old from El Salvador with no criminal record, was arrested in Elizabeth, New Jersey on January 26 and was repeatedly transferred between detention centers.