Ulloa Jimenes v. Hyde et al

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF RHODE ISLAND
STALIN ADRIAN ULLOA JIMENES,
Petitioner,
v.
DAVID WESLING,1
Acting Field Office
Director of Enforcement and Removal
Operations, Boston Field Office; TODD
LYONS,
Acting Director, U.S. I.C.E.;
MARKWAYNE MULLIN,
U.S.
Secretary of Homeland Security;
MICHAEL NESSINGER,
Warden of
the Donald W. Wyatt Detention
Facility; and TODD BLANCHE,
Acting
U.S. Attorney General,
Respondents.
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No. 26-cv-247-JJM-AEM
ORDER
Stalin Adrian Ulloa Jimenes has filed a habeas petition under 28 U.S.C.
§ 2241, arguing that his arrest and continued detention by Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (“ICE”) is unlawful, and that he must be released or given a bond
hearing before an immigration judge (“IJ”) pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a). ECF No. 1.
In its Response, the Government states that the legal issues presented in this case
are like those recently addressed by this Court in
Tomas Elias v. Hyde, No. 25-cv-
540-JJM-AEM, 2025 WL 3004437 (D.R.I. Oct. 27, 2025). ECF No. 4 at 1. Though the
1 Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 25(d), David Wesling has been substituted for
Patricia 	Hyde 	as 	Acting 	Field 	Office 	Director 	of 	Enforcement 	and 	Removal
Operations, Boston Field Office in this action.
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Government notes some disagreement with that decision,2 it acknowledges that
should the Court follow its reasoning in
Tomas Elias, it would reach the same result
in Mr. Ulloa Jimenes’s case.
Id. at 2. The reasoning provided in
Tomas Elias remains
correct. As such, the Court finds that Mr. Ulloa Jimenes’s detention is unlawful, and
that he is entitled to immediate release and a bond hearing before an IJ. Mr. Ulloa
Jimenes’s petition is therefore GRANTED. ECF No. 1.
The Government is hereby ORDERED to release Stalin Adrian Ulloa Jimenes
immediately. 	Per its request, the Government is permitted to transfer Mr. Ulloa
Jimenes from the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls, Rhode Island
to ICE’s Boston Field Office in Burlington, Massachusetts for the sole purpose of
processing his release and allowing for any return of property. 3 ECF No. 5 at 1 n.1.
2 Specifically, the Government cites to recent decisions from the Eighth and
Fifth Circuits that are to the contrary.
	See Avila v. Bondi, 170 F.4th 1128 (8th Cir.
2026);
Buenrostro-Mendez v. Bondi, 166 F.4th 494 (5th Cir. 2026). 	Of course, that
decision is not binding on this Court, and the Court does not find its reasoning to be
persuasive. The Court is instead persuaded by the Seventh Circuit’s position on the
issue.
	See Castanon-Nava v. U.S. Dep’t of Homeland Sec., 161 F.4th 1048, 1060-62
(7th Cir. 2025) (concluding that the Government was unlikely to succeed on the
merits of its argument that 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A) permits the mandatory detention
of any noncitizen who is unlawfully already in the United States).
3 To be clear, the Government is
not permitted to place “any monitoring
equipment deemed appropriate” on Mr. Ulloa Jimenes, as it has requested in similar
cases. Because the Government did not have the lawful authority to detain Mr. Ulloa
Jimenes in the first place, the Court will not permit the Government to keep him “in
custody” through the use of monitoring equipment pending the bond hearing.
	See
Morales v. Hyde, No. 26-cv-093-JJM-PAS, 2026 WL 508811, at *3-4 (D.R.I. Feb. 24,
2026) (denying the Government’s request to place “any monitoring equipment
deemed appropriate” on a petitioner because “[i]t does not follow . . . that ICE gets to
keep [the petitioner] ‘in custody’ once he leaves the Wyatt Detention Facility”).
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Effectuating Mr. Ulloa Jimenes’s transfer to Burlington shall not in any way impede
his immediate release.
The Government is also ORDERED to provide Stalin Adrian Ulloa Jimenes
with a bond hearing before an IJ under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) within ten (10) days of the
date of this order. 	Should it choose to pursue Mr. Ulloa Jimenes’s continued
detention, the Government must show why less restrictive alternatives to detention
would be inadequate for it to achieve its goals.
	See Higiro v. Nessinger, No. 26-cv-
105-JJM-AEM, 2026 WL 710297, at *8 (D.R.I. Mar. 13, 2026) (finding that due
process requires IJs to consider alternatives to detention at bond hearings to ensure
that detention is not arbitrarily imposed and bears a reasonable relation to the
Government’s interests). 	The IJ shall consider any alternatives to detention
before
making a finding as to flight risk or dangerousness.
	See Brito v. Garland, 22 F.4th
240, 254 (1st Cir. 2021) (noting that to require otherwise would be “to put the cart
before the horse”).
Finally, the Court ORDERS the Government to file a status report within five
(5) days of Mr. Ulloa Jimenes’s bond hearing, stating whether he has been granted
bond. If Mr. Ulloa Jimenes’s request for bond is denied, the Government shall state
the reason for that denial and whether Mr. Ulloa Jimenes has been re-detained by
ICE.
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
s/John J. McConnell, Jr.
_________________________________
JOHN J. MCCONNELL, JR.
Chief Judge
United States District Court
April 28, 2026
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