Judge: ICE blocked self-deportation
Officers seized man as he boarded Colombia flight
By: Nicholas Katzban
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
..... A federal judge ruled U.S. immigration authorities violated an immigrant's right to self-deport by taking him back into custody as he was boarding a flight to Colombia, which the government rationalized by saying the migrate was subject to further detention because he'd missed the court ordered deadline to leave.
.....
In a written opinion issued July 22, [2026] New Jersey District Judge Michael Farbiarz ordered the release of Marion Andres Torres Gomez, who was housed at the Delaney Hall immigration detention center in Newark, [NJ] so that he may comply with a May 12 [2026] order permitting him to leave the U.S. of his own volition.
..... Fariarz stated
Immigration and Costumes Enforcement's right to hold Torres Gomez was based purely on its own efforts to scuttle his departure - an enforcement operations he said lacked "any meaningful process" and stood "at odds with common sense."
..... Torres Gomez filed the petition to self-deport in an effort to escape Delaney Hall - a flash point for chaotic protests of an immigration policy detainees and U.S. lawmakers alike have said sacrifices efficacy for the sake of cruelty. His request was grated by an immigration judge, who set a June 11 [2026] deadline, by which Torres Gomez had to leave the country or face further detention, court documents state.
..... But as Torres Gomez was boarding a flight to Colombia on June 10, [2026] federal agents took him into custody and returned him to Delaney Hall, according to statements made by Representative Jaime Raskin, D-New York, during a House subcommittee hearing a day after Farbiarz's ruling.
..... After failing to challenge his return to Delaney Hall with two prior writs of habeas corpus, Raskin said his June 10 [2026] apprehension was a violation of his constitutional right to due process.
.....
On June 16, [2026] Torres Gomez filed the third and final petition against Delaney Hall's warden, Luis Soto; Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin; acting Attorney General Todd Blanche; the director of ICE's Newark [NJ] field office, Jonathan Florentino; and acting ICE Director David Venturella.
..... In defense of the June 10 [2026] arrest, assistant U.S. attorneys argued it was legal to continue ho.,ding Torres Gomez under the Immigration and Nationality Act, which permits the federal government to detain undocumented residents who overstay the statutory 90-day deadline to voluntarily self-deport - logic Farbiarz dismissed in his written opinion as justifying the arrest "after-the-fact."
..... Federal attorneys also attempted to rationalize Torres Gomez's June 10 [2026] arrest with claims they were protecting his right to appeal his voluntary removal.
..... However, Torres Gomez emailed immigration officials multiple times seeking confirmation that his release would be processed in time to comply with the jun 11 [2026] deadline, according to a copy of the ruling.
..... As of July 24, [2026] an attorney for Torres Gomez had questions seeking to clarify whether her client had been released from Delaney Hall and left the country as of Friday [0724/2026] afternoon.