Judge Dolly Gee Bars ICE From Re-Detaining Severely Cognitively Disabled Man Deported Without Notice

Chief U.S. District Judge Dolly M. Gee of the Central District of California issued a temporary restraining order on approximately April 1 barring ICE from re-detaining a severely cognitively disabled man who had been deported to Mexico without understanding the legal process and without notifying his caretakers. Judge Gee found it likely that the individual's constitutional rights had been violated — specifically that he had been deprived of due process given his inability to understand immigration proceedings or make informed decisions about waiving legal protections. The ruling was part of a broader pattern of federal courts granting habeas petitions in ICE cases: in the Southern District of New York alone, noncitizens had won habeas petitions in 350 of 362 cases across 160 judges in approximately 50 federal courts.