Western District of Pennsylvania • 3:26-cv-01664

#1

Aug 25, 2026

Emergency PETITION for Writ of Habeas Corpus (Filing fee, including Administrative fee, $5, receipt number APAWDC-9827246), filed by STEVE FLORES. (Attachments: # 1 Declaration of Edgar Loy Fankbonner, Esq., # 2 Civil Cover Sheet) (Fankbonner, Edgar) Modified text on 8/25/2026 to correct name of Petitioner. (jd) Modified text on 8/25/2026 Civil Cover Sheet removed from view, refiled as an Errata at 4 . (ljs) (Entered: 08/25/2026)

#2

Aug 25, 2026

Emergency MOTION for Order to Show Cause by STEVE FLORES. (Fankbonner, Edgar) Modified text on 8/25/2026 to correct name of Petitioner. (jd) (Entered: 08/25/2026)

#3

Aug 25, 2026

Emergency MOTION for Permanent Injunction, Emergency MOTION for Temporary Restraining Order by STEVE FLORES. (Attachments: # 1 Memorandum of Law in Support of Motion) (Fankbonner, Edgar) Modified text on 8/25/2026 to correct name of Petitioner. (jd) Modified text on 8/25/2026 Memorandum of Law in Support of Motion removed from view and refiled at 5 . (ljs) (Entered: 08/25/2026)

#4

Aug 25, 2026

Errata re 1 Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus, Civil Cover Sheet by STEVE FLORES. Reason for Correction: Incorrect county entered. (Fankbonner, Edgar) (Entered: 08/25/2026)

#5

Aug 25, 2026

BRIEF in Support re 3 Motion for Permanent Injunction, Motion for TRO, filed by STEVE FLORES. (ljs) (Entered: 08/25/2026)

Aug 25, 2026

CLERK'S NOTICE OF CORRECTION re 3 Emergency MOTION for Permanent Injunction Emergency MOTION for Temporary Restraining Order . ERROR: Motion and Memorandum of Law in Support of Motion should have been filed as two separate documents. CORRECTION FOR FUTURE FILINGS: Attorney advised that in the future all Memoranda/Briefs are to be filed separately. Clerk refiled the Memorandum in this instance. THIS MESSAGE IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND NO FURTHER ACTION IS REQUIRED ON THE FILING AT ISSUE. (ljs)

Aug 25, 2026

Judge Christy Criswell Wiegand added. (jd)

Aug 25, 2026

CLERK'S REQUEST FOR CORRECTIVE ACTION re 1 Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus. ERROR: Form improperly completed: THE CIVIL COVER ATTACHED TO THE ENTRY HAS THE INCORRECT COUNTY.CORRECTION REQUIRED: Filer to resubmit properly completed form using the Errata event, linking the document to the previous entry. (jd)

#6

Aug 26, 2026

NOTICE of Appearance by Kerianne Nagy on behalf of TODD BLANCHE, BRIAN MCSHANE, MARKWAYNE MULLIN, LEONARD ODDO. (Nagy, Kerianne) (Entered: 08/26/2026)

#7

Aug 27, 2026

CASE MANAGEMENT ORDER. Signed by Judge Christy Criswell Wiegand on 8/27/2026. (tmc) (Entered: 08/27/2026)

#8

Aug 27, 2026

ORDER DENYING 2 Motion for Order to Show Cause. Petitioner requests an order requiring Respondents to show cause why his 1 Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus should not be granted. Petitioner invokes 28 U.S.C. § 2243, which provides that "[a] court, justice or judge entertaining an application for a writ of habeas corpus shall forthwith award the writ or issue an order directing the respondent to show cause why the writ should not be granted, unless it appears from the application that the applicant or person detained is not entitled thereto." Section 2243 further provides that "[t]he writ, or order to show cause... shall be returned within three days unless for good cause additional time, not exceeding twenty days, is allowed." Courts within this Circuit have found that Rule 4 of the Rules Governing Section 2254 and Section 2255 Proceedings ("Habeas Rules"), applicable to § 2241 cases through Rule 1(b) of the Habeas Rules, provides more flexible time limits for ordering an answer and supersedes the time limits of § 2243 to the extent there is a conflict. See Alvierez v. Bondi et al., No. 26-532 (JXN), 2026 WL 146013, *1 (D.N.J. Jan. 20, 2026) (collecting cases). This Court agrees. The Court has issued a case management order setting forth a deadline for Respondents to answer the 1 Petition. Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the 2 Motion for Order to Show Cause is DENIED. Signed by Judge Christy Criswell Wiegand on 8/27/2026. Text-only entry; no PDF document will issue. This text-only entry constitutes the Order of the Court or Notice on the matter. (tmc) (Entered: 08/27/2026)

#9

Aug 27, 2026

ORDER DENYING 3 Motion for Temporary Restraining Order. In the 3 Motion, Petitioner seeks a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction enjoining Respondents from transferring Petition from his current place of detention at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center. Congress has vested the Secretary of Homeland Security and his/her delegates, such as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) with the authority to detain aliens pending a decision on their removal proceedings. 8 U.S.C. §§ 1231(a)(2), 1226(a), (c)(1). And Congress has vested the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with the discretion to set the place of detention. 8 U.S.C. § 1231(g)(1); Sinclair v. Att'y Gen., 198 F. App'x 218, 222 n.3 (3d Cir. 2006) (collecting cases). Within DHS discretion is the authority to transfer aliens from one detention center to another. Calla-Collado v. Att'y Gen., 663 F.3d 680, 685 (3d Cir. 2011). Reading § 1231(g)(1) together with Congress' limitations in 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii) on federal district courts' jurisdiction to review discretionary actions by DHS, federal district courts have concluded that they lack jurisdiction to review DHS' decisions under § 1231. See, e.g., Jane v. Rodriguez, No. 20-5922, 2020 WL 10140953, *1-2 (D.N.J. May 22, 2020) (citing cases). Consistent with this authority, this Court concludes that it lacks jurisdiction to enjoin Petitioner's transfer. Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the 3 Motion is DENIED. Signed by Judge Christy Criswell Wiegand on 8/27/2026. Text-only entry; no PDF document will issue. This text-only entry constitutes the Order of the Court or Notice on the matter. (tmc) (Entered: 08/27/2026)

Aug 27, 2026

Order on Motion to Show Cause

Aug 27, 2026

Order on Motion for Permanent Injunction AND Order on Motion for TRO

#12

Sep 14, 2026

ORDER DENYING 1 Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus. In the 1 Petition, Petitioner, a noncitizen currently detained by Respondents at the El Paso Processing Center in El Paso, Texas, but detained at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania at the time the 1 Petition was filed, seeks immediate release from custody. The thrust of the 1 Petition is that Respondents have improperly detained Petitioner, who first entered the country twenty years ago, as an arriving alien under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2). In response, Respondents aver that Petitioner is in fact detained pursuant to § 1226(c) based on Petitioner's past conviction for aggravated assault. ECF No. 11. Respondents have attached Petitioner's criminal record which notes a 2025 conviction for aggravated assault in New Jersey. See ECF No. 11-3. Respondents have also attached a narrative detail of the 2025 assault from the New Jersey state court system website, which recounts that Petitioner "us[ed] a knife to cause[] serious bodily harm with the intent to kill the victim." ECF No. 11-2 at 1. Petitioner's deadline to file a reply brief was 9/13/2026, see ECF No. 7, but Petitioner's counsel elected not to file a reply. 8 U.S.C. § 1226(c) mandates detention of any noncitizen "who(i) is inadmissible under paragraph 6(A), 6(C), or (7) of section 1182(a) of this title; and (ii) is charged with, is arrested for, is convicted of, admits having committed, or admits committing acts which constitute the essential elements of any burglary, theft, larceny, shoplifting, or assault of a law enforcement officer offense, or any crime that results in death or serious bodily injury to another person." Here, Respondents have provided records attesting to Petitioner's 2025 conviction for aggravated assault and demonstrating that such assault caused serious bodily harm to the victim. Accordingly, Petitioner is properly detained pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1226(c) and is not entitled to a bond hearing. Furthermore, Petitioner does not make any challenge to the length of his detention under the factors set forth by the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in German Santos v. Warden Pike Cnty. Corr. Facility, 965 F.3d 203 (3d Cir. 2020). The 1 Petition therefore fails to set forth any grounds for relief. Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the 1 Petition is DENIED. Signed by Judge Christy Criswell Wiegand on 9/14/2026. Text-only entry; no PDF document will issue. This text-only entry constitutes the Order of the Court or Notice on the matter. (tmc) (Entered: 09/14/2026)

#13

Sep 14, 2026

FINAL JUDGMENT entered consistent with the above order (ECF No. 12). Signed by Judge Christy Criswell Wiegand on 9/14/2026. Text-only entry; no PDF document will issue. This text-only entry constitutes the Order of the Court or Notice on the matter. (tmc) (Entered: 09/14/2026)

Sep 14, 2026

Judgment

Sep 14, 2026

Order