A federal judge in Oregon has ordered the immediate release of a 24-year-old migrant from Mexico who was arrested after a routine asylum hearing and then held in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility for nearly a month.

Judge Michael H. Simon ordered the migrant, known as Y-Z-L-H, be released from custody, arguing the government had no right to detain him given his temporary legal status, or parole, was still valid through July 2025, according to The Oregonian. 

Simon granted the man’s habeas petition, finding that ICE officers had unlawfully and without justification detained the man in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.

A federal judge in Oregon has ordered the release of a Mexican migrant who had been held in an ICE detention facility for nearly a month after agents arrested him moments after a routine asylum hearing. (Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“How do we know whether the secretary has complied with the law unless the secretary tells us … the basis for the ruling,” Simon asked, per The Oregonian. “Isn’t the whole purpose of checks and balances that the executive branch must follow the law that Congress writes and the judiciary is here to ensure that the executive branch only takes those actions that are authorized by law?”

The government initially claimed it had notified the migrant in April that his temporary status would end that month, but later reversed course in court filings, acknowledging that his parole was in fact valid through July 19, 2025, per the outlet. 

A day before his arrest, Y-Z-L-H was granted a five-year work permit — a result of an October 2023 policy change by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which extended the validity period of employment authorization for asylum seekers.

He lives in Newport, Oregon and has no criminal record.  

Federal agents patrol the halls of an immigration court in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Innovation Law Lab has been involved in several high-profile immigration cases, particularly those challenging U.S. policies that impact asylum seekers.

One notable case came in 2020, when the group sued the federal government over former President Donald Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy, which forced asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their claims were processed in U.S. courts.

The group argued the policy violated U.S. immigration law and international human rights protections. A federal appeals court agreed and blocked the policy, but the Supreme Court later vacated that ruling after the Biden administration ended the program.