Federal judges in San Diego are repeatedly finding ICE arrests and prolonged detention unlawful

Herman Rovelo-Gallegos fled to the U.S. six years ago with his wife and young children from Honduras, where he said gangs killed his brother and tried to kill him, too.

In the U.S., Rovelo-Gallegos followed the rules. He filed his asylum application on time. He got work authorization, a Social Security card and a driver’s license. He wore an ankle monitor for more than a year and attended his immigration court hearings and check-ins. He has no criminal record.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested him anyway. On Jan. 5, they took him as he was making an Amazon delivery to a customer on Camp Pendleton. He was jailed for more than a month at Otay Mesa Detention Center, where he said he wore the same set of clothes for 20 days in a row and got sick from the food.

The detention was unlawful, Rovelo-Gallegos’ attorney later argued in court, alleging that ICE denied him due process — they failed to give him adequate notice of why he was being detained, and they failed to give him an interview in which he could respond to his detention, both of which were required by federal regulations. On Feb. 11, a San Diego federal judge agreed and ordered his immediate release.

Rovelo-Gallegos won his freedom by filing for habeas corpus, a court petition that challenges the legality of a person’s detention. He’s one of thousands of noncitizens around the country who have turned to this eight-century-old legal tool to challenge ICE’s campaign of mass arrests...