A.A. v. Tonya Andrews, et al.

District Court, E.D. California·Decided January 7, 2026·No. 1:25-cv-01782·Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

A.A., Case No. 1:25-cv-01782-JLT-SAB-HC

Petitioner, FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATION TO GRANT PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION v. AND RELEASE PETITIONER

TONYA ANDREWS, et al., (ECF No. 2)

Respondents. ORDER GRANTING PETITIONER’S MOTION TO PROCEED VIA

(ECF No. 3)

Petitioner, represented by counsel, is an immigration detainee proceeding with a petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241. I. Petitioner is a citizen of Syria. Petitioner fled Syria because of persecution he suffered on account of his political opinion and sexual orientation. On or around June 27, 2024, Petitioner presented himself at the Mexico/U.S. border with the intention of seeking asylum and was immediately placed in immigration custody. (ECF No. 2-1 at 2.) Petitioner was detained for nine days and then transferred to a detention facility for two months. In September 2024, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) released Petitioner and took him on a plane to Petitioner’s destination, Fresno, where Petitioner had a cousin. DHS did not require Petitioner to post a bond and did not give Petitioner any instructions. (ECF No. 2-1 at 2.) Petitioner did not know what to do to follow up on his case, so he went to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) office in Fresno to report. Officers added an application to Petitioner’s phone, and Petitioner was required to take a photo every week, answer video calls from Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (“ISAP”) officers, submit to home visits, and report in person to ISAP and ICE offices. A few times a message would come to Petitioner’s phone to take a picture at 7 a.m., but Petitioner was still asleep and did not see the messages. Officers would call Petitioner, and Petitioner would take the picture. Petitioner never missed an in-person appointment. One time an officer informed Petitioner that he missed a home visit. Petitioner explained that he did not know the exact time of the visit because they did not have a translator. At the time of the missed home visit, Petitioner was praying at a mosque a few blocks from his house. Petitioner spoke with his case manager, who said it would be okay. Petitioner never received any formal warnings or notices of noncompliance. (ECF No. 2-1 at 3.) Petitioner retained an immigration attorney and filed his asylum application in November 2024. DHS granted Petitioner employment authorization. On May 29, 2025, Petitioner was arrested at an ICE appointment. Officers told Petitioner that he would be detained for his credible fear interview and then released. However, Petitioner was taken to the Golden State Detention Facility, where he has been detained ever since. (ECF No. 2-1 at 3.) According to the I–213 Narrative,1 Petitioner was taken into custody “due to his mandatory detention based on new DHS guidance.” (ECF No. 2-3 at 3.) On June 22, 2025, Petitioner underwent a credible fear interview and received a positive determination. (ECF No. 13-1 at 2.) On June 25,2 2025, DHS issued a notice to appear (“NTA”) charging Petitioner as removable pursuant to sections 212(a)(7)(A)(i)(I) and 212(a)(6)(A)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”). (ECF No. 2-5 at 2.) Currently, an individual merits hearing is scheduled for January 7, 2026. (ECF No. 13-1 at 3.) 1 “A Form I-213 is ‘a recorded recollection of a[n INS agent’s] conversation with the alien’ which ‘border agents routinely complete after interviewing aliens.’” Smith v. Garland, 103 F.4th 663, 665 (9th Cir. 2024) (quoting Espinoza v. INS, 45 F.3d 308, 310 & n.1 (9th Cir. 1995)). 2 Petitioner’s immigration attorney filed a declaration stating that on June 21, 2025 the government filed an NTA with the immigration court. (ECF No. 13-1 at 2.) However, attached as an exhibit to the motion for TRO is a copy of On July 10, 2025, Petitioner’s immigration attorney filed a formal request for parole with ICE on behalf of the Petitioner. After receiving no response to the initial request, counsel filed a second request for parole with ICE on July 28, 2025. As of December 29, 2025, ICE has not issued a decision or response regarding these requests. (ECF No. 13-1 at 2.) During an immigration court hearing on October 22, 2025, Petitioner requested a bond hearing. The immigration judge (“IJ”) “stated that she did not have jurisdiction to grant bond and that ICE was the sole legal entity with the authority to grant the Petitioner parole.” (Id. at 3.) On December 8, 2025, Petitioner filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus and a motion for temporary restraining order (“TRO”) challenging his detention on procedural and substantive due process grounds. (ECF Nos. 1, 2.) On December 10, 2025, the Court converted the motion for TRO to a motion for preliminary injunction and referred the matter to the undersigned. (ECF No. 7.) Respondents filed an opposition, and Petitioner filed a reply. (ECF Nos. 12, 13.) II. A. Motion to Proceed via Pseudonym Rule 10 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure requires that every complaint must include the name of all parties. Fed. R. Civ. P. 10(a). Rule 17 further provides that “[a]n action must be prosecuted in the name of the real party in interest.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 17(a)(1). The normal presumption is that the parties will use their real names, which is “loosely related” to the public’s right to open courts and the rights of individuals to confront their accusers. Doe v. Kamehameha Schools, 596 F.3d 1036, 1042 (9th Cir. 2010). However, courts have allowed a party to proceed in anonymity where special circumstances justify the secrecy. Does I thru XXIII v. Advanced Textile Corp., 214 F.3d 1058, 1067 (9th Cir. 2000). In the Ninth Circuit, a party may proceed with the use of a pseudonym “in the ‘unusual case’ when nondisclosure of the party’s identity ‘is necessary . . . to protect a person from harassment, injury, ridicule or personal embarrassment.’” Advanced Textile Corp., 214 F.3d at 1067–68 (alteration in original) (quoting United States v. Doe, 655 F.2d 920, 922 n.1 (9th Cir. 1981)). The Ninth Circuit has held that “a party may need for anonymity outweighs prejudice to the opposing party and the public’s interest in knowing the party’s identity.” Advanced Textile Corp., 214 F.3d at 1068. Courts have generally allowed a party to proceed with anonymity in three circumstances: (1) “when identification creates a risk of retaliatory physical or mental harm”; (2) “when anonymity is necessary ‘to preserve privacy in a matter of sensitive and highly personal nature’”; and (3) “when the anonymous party is ‘compelled to admit [his or her] intention to engage in illegal conduct, thereby risking criminal prosecution[.]’” Advanced Textile Corp., 214 F.3d at 1068 (first alteration in original) (internal citations omitted). The Ninth Circuit has held that where the use of a pseudonym is used to shield the party from retaliation, the district court should evaluate the following factors: (1) the severity of the threatened harm; (2) the reasonableness of the anonymous party’s fears; and (3) the anonymous party’s vulnerability to such retaliation. Advanced Textile Corp., 214 F.3d at 1068 (citations omitted). Here, Petitioner requests to be permitted to proceed u

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