Gonzalo Suarez-Gonzalez, who fled Cuba after being attacked by police during a 2021 protest against the government, has been held at the Dodge Detention Facility in Wisconsin since August 2025, when he was arrested following a bar fight. Despite winning adjustment of status to legal permanent resident under the Cuban Adjustment Act in March 2026, ICE has continued to detain Suarez-Gonzalez while officials decide whether to appeal the immigration judge's decision—a process that could take 'weeks, months, or even years,' according to his petition.
Judge Stadtmueller rejected the government's attempt to dismiss the habeas corpus petition at the screening stage, ruling that Suarez-Gonzalez had raised a viable constitutional challenge to his detention. 'An alien detainee may seek relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 if he believes that his custody is 'in violation of the Constitution or laws . . . of the United States,'' Stadtmueller wrote, adding that 'at this stage, the Court cannot say that this challenge appears frivolous or non-cognizable in habeas corpus proceedings.'
The case highlights the tension between ICE's authority to detain immigrants pending appeals and the due process rights of those who have already won legal status. As Judge Stadtmueller noted in his order, Suarez-Gonzalez argues that 'Respondents have no basis to keep a legal permanent resident in custody without recourse while the government appeals [the] decision to terminate removal proceedings' and that such detention 'violates due process.'
The legal odyssey began when Suarez-Gonzalez was identified as a victim in a Wisconsin bar fight and arrested in Outagamie County in August 2025, after which he was transferred to ICE custody. Immigration authorities charged him with entering the United States without inspection, but Immigration Judge Samia Naseem granted his application for adjustment under the Cuban Adjustment Act on March 13, 2026, giving him legal permanent resident status retroactive to April 28, 2023. However, ICE has kept him detained under an automatic stay provision that operates while the government considers whether to appeal.
Suarez-Gonzalez's petition argued that the automatic stay violates due process when applied to someone who has already been granted lawful permanent resident status. The government's position, according to the petition, is that they may continue detention while assessing 'whether to exercise their right to appeal the Immigration Judge's grant of Petitioner's adjustment of status and, potentially, during the pendency of such an appeal.' The current detention stems from immigration charges, not his underlying criminal case—he pleaded no contest to misdemeanor battery and disorderly conduct charges and was sentenced to pay costs only.
Judge Stadtmueller expressed skepticism about several of the named respondents in the case, noting that apart from Sheriff Dale Schmidt, who oversees the detention facility, most defendants may be 'improperly sued.' As the judge explained in a footnote, 'The writ, or order to show cause shall be directed to the person having custody of the person detained,' citing federal habeas corpus law requiring petitioners to sue their actual custodian rather than high-level officials.
The court ordered the government to respond within 10 days and directed officials to confer with DHS about whether they will agree not to transfer Suarez-Gonzalez outside the Eastern District of Wisconsin while the petition remains pending. The judge also established an expedited briefing schedule, acknowledging the time-sensitive nature of detention challenges while noting 'the large number of habeas petitions that have been filed in this District.'