Pablo Osvaldo de Jesus Vargas Cabrera, a noncitizen detained at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, filed a habeas corpus petition on April 1 challenging his detention and seeking release or a bond hearing. He simultaneously sought a preliminary injunction to prevent his removal or transfer while the case is pending.
Magistrate Judge Steve Kim granted the anti-removal portion of the injunction, writing that "the risk of irreparable harm from removal or transfer pending adjudication is self-evident: if Petitioner is removed before the Court can evaluate whether his present detention is lawful, the petition becomes practically impossible to adjudicate and the writ nearly meaningless." The judge found the balance of equities favored preserving the court's ability to adjudicate the petition over any interest in immediate removal.
However, Judge Kim denied Cabrera's request for immediate release or a bond hearing through the preliminary injunction, explaining that such relief would require evaluating "the likelihood of success on the very merits question presented in the habeas petition." The court said the merits question should be resolved through expedited review rather than preliminary injunction proceedings.
The ruling represents a typical approach in immigration habeas cases, where courts often issue anti-removal injunctions to preserve jurisdiction while declining to grant immediate release pending merits review. The court ordered the parties to provide key immigration records within seven days to aid in the merits adjudication.