We are quickly closing in on 500 habeas corpus cases filed in federal district court in Minnesota so far in just January. These petitions all seek the release of one or more illegal aliens held in ICE detention.
For comparison purposes, please note that we did not reach the 500 criminal case mark in Minnesota federal district for all of 2025.
Nearly all of the habeas corpus cases filed ultimately succeed in their goal. Here is one exception.
Case No. 26-cv-386 was filed on January 16. Here’s what I can piece together from what’s available to the public in the case file.
On January 13, Sinan Ozturk had already received a hearing in Immigration Court and was not granted bond.
On January 16, Judge Laura Provinzino ordered that Ozturk not be removed from Minnesota. She did not order Ozturk’s release.
Today (January 29), Judge Provinzino is holding a hearing on the case, seeking to examine,
The reasons why Sinan O. was denied bond at the bond hearing on January 13, 2026.
That’s not her job. Congress has already established an appeals process for decisions made by an Immigration Court judge. It involves a body called the Board of Immigration Appeals (BOIA).
In a much-followed case involving a prominent Columbia University activist, CBS News reported earlier this month,
A panel of judges on a federal appeals court ruled Thursday that a district court judge did not have the authority to order the release of Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University activist who has been targeted by the Trump administration for deportation.
The three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit ruled 2-1 that the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey “lacked jurisdiction over Khalil’s removal proceedings” under a provision of the Immigration and Naturalization Act, or INA.
Quoting the court decision,
Our holdings vindicate essential principles of habeas and immigration law. The scheme Congress enacted governing immigration proceedings provides Khalil a meaningful forum in which to raise his claims later on — in a petition for review of a final order of removal.
It seems that word hasn’t trickled down to flyover country.
I hope you don’t think that I’ve forgotten about my Minnesota Men.
Edgar Diaz-Jiminez of Mexico pled guilty last week to one count of being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm.
Guidelines call for Diaz to spend one year in federal prison, give or take a few months. Sentencing will occur at a later date.
Xavier Antonio Contreras-Lara of Honduras appeared in federal court in downtown Minneapolis today.
Back on January 12, Contreras pled guilty to one count of illegal reentry of a previously deported alien. He had been deported on two prior occasions.
A suspect matching his name was arrested back in late August and again in October on domestic assault charges in McLeod County, according to jail records. After this second arrest, he was indicted in federal court and placed in the Fast Track program.
He is now a convicted felon.
In a court filing made by his federal defense attorney, Contreras is said to have been a banker in his native land, chased out of the country by local gangs. Upon his return to Honduras, he will seek employment as a welder.
Adios, Xavier!
