President Donald Trump smiles as he speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, May 20, 2025, in Washington (AP Photo/Alex Brandon).
A federal judge in Southern California has ordered the Trump administration to immediately return an immigrant who was deported after visiting his pregnant daughter at a Marine Corps base.
The 10-page opinion comes amid an increasingly long line of cases challenging a surge in efforts by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to deport immigrants with valid documentation.
In the case, Esteban Rios Sosa won habeas corpus relief by convincing U.S. District Judge Janis Lynn Sammartino, a George W. Bush appointee, that his deportation to Mexico was illegal and violated the due process clause of the U.S. Constitution.
"[T]he Government's summary revocation of Petitioner's deferred action status and subsequent removal without notification, reasoning, or an opportunity to be heard, denied Petitioner of his due process rights," the opinion reads.
At the outset, the judge recounts the facts of the case.
"On September 28, 2025, Petitioner, his wife, and his former-Marine son drove to the gate at Camp Pendleton to visit Petitioner's pregnant daughter who lived on the base with her active-duty Marine husband," the opinion goes on. "Petitioner and his wife were stopped at the gate and detained, despite their REAL ID-compliant identification documents, deferred action status, and [employment documents]."
The Rios Sosa family had visited the base some 10 times before, without incident, the court noted. But that changed after ICE issued a controversial detention-and-deportation memo directing a sweeping shift in policy during the summer of 2025.
On that final visit, the petitioner and his wife were taken to an ICE headquarters in San Diego, outfitted with ankle monitors, subjected to a mandatory check-in, and "reassured multiple times that they would not be detained or deported at this check-in appointment."
That's not what happened.
"Petitioner was detained, taken to the basement of the federal building, told to put a mask on to avoid news cameras in the building, and deported to Mexico within twenty-four hours," the opinion notes.
The analysis begins by shrugging off jurisdictional complaints.
To hear the Trump administration tell it, the court cannot rule on the habeas petition because Rios Sosa has not tried to reenter the country, is not in custody, and is currently in Mexico. The Department of Justice says this state of affairs does not satisfy the "extreme circumstances" necessary for the court to take control of the matter.
The judge cites precedent to note that "where the government unlawfully removes a petitioner to a foreign country, rendering him unable to challenge his removal in the manner prescribed by the Immigration and Nationality Act, he remains 'an alien in custody.'"
"The Court thus finds that extreme circumstances exist, creating jurisdiction over the present Petition even though Petitioner is physically located in Mexico," the opinion goes on.
The opinion also explains why the deportation was illegal.
"The Court disagrees," the opinion continues. "Petitioner's unlawful removal constitutes 'extreme circumstances.' Respondents do not contest that Petitioner has deferred action status…As an individual with deferred action, Petitioner cannot be detained or removed unless his deferred action status has been properly revoked. At the time of his removal, Petitioner's deferred action status was valid and active, and thus he was ineligible for removal."
Sammartino elaborates to apply the facts to the law:
Petitioner, with his valid deferred action status, was detained while attempting to visit his daughter on Camp Pendleton, forced to wear an ankle monitor, re-detained at a later check-in appointment, brought to the basement of the federal building, forced to wear a mask, and deported without notice or a hearing. Petitioner was not given notice that his deferred action status was revoked nor was he given an opportunity to contest his deportation…The Court cannot fathom more "extreme circumstances" then an unlawful deportation without justification, notice, or any opportunity to be heard.
As it turned out, the DOJ's efforts in the case were largely cabined by standing and jurisdictional issues, the judge notes. That is, the government's briefs appear to have elided the merits entirely.
"Respondents do not even attempt to counter Petitioner's conclusion that his summary deportation violated the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment and the Administrative Procedure Act," the opinion goes on.
The court then briefly applies the relevant framework.
"Petitioner was removed within twenty-four hours of his detention without providing him a reason for revocation or giving him an opportunity to be heard," the opinion continues. "Petitioner should not have been detained at all, much less removed…because Respondents detained and removed Petitioner without properly revoking his deferred action status and without justification, notice, or an opportunity to be heard, his removal was a violation of the Due Process Clause."
To that end, the court ordered the government to "facilitate" Rios Sosa's return. Progress reports are due every 10 days until he is back in the country.