Manuel Haroldo Hernandez Trabanino v. Leonard Oddo, et al.

District Court, W.D. Pennsylvania·Decided July 1, 2026·No. 3:26-cv-00175·Unknown

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA MANUEL HAROLDO ) HERNANDEZ TRABANINO, ) Petitioner, V. Case No. 3:26-cv-175 ) Judge Stephanie L. Haines LEONARD ODDO, et al., ) Respondents. ) MEMORANDUM OPINION On February 9, 2026, Petitioner Manuel Haroldo Hernandez Trabanino (“Petitioner”) filed

a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus (“Habeas Petition”) pursuant to 28 U.S.C § 2241 and the Suspension Clause of the United States Constitution. ECF No. 1. Petitioner named as Respondents: Leonard Oddo (in his official capacity as Warden of Moshannon Valley Detention Center (“MVPC”)), Brian McShane (in his official capacity as Acting Field Officer of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”), Enforcement and Removal Operations (“ERO”) Philadelphia Field Office), Kristi Noem (in her official capacity as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”)), and Pam Bondi (in her official capacity as Attorney General of the United States) (collectively, “Respondents”). Along with his Habeas Petition, Petitioner also filed a Motion to Appoint Counsel on February 9, 2026. ECF No. 3. On February 11, 2026, this Court issued an Order denying the Motion, concluding that appointment of counsel was not appropriate under the circumstances. ECF No. 4. The Court then set a briefing schedule, ECF No. 5, and Respondents’ counsel subsequently entered their appearance on February 12, 2026. ECF No. 6. On March 2, 2026, Petitioner filed a Supplement to his Habeas Petition. ECF No. 7.

Therein, Petitioner corrects and clarifies several dates present in his Habeas Petition, including his date of entry, his date of marriage, and his original date of detainment. /d. He also attaches what

appears to be part of a filing submitted to the Third Circuit. Jd. Then, on March 4, 2026, Petitioner filed a Remark updating the Court on the status of his appellate proceedings before the Board of Immigration Appeals and the Third Circuit. ECF No. 8. On March 11, 2026, Respondents filed a Response to Petitioner’s Habeas Petition. ECF No. 9. Then, on May 29, 2026, Petitioner filed a Motion Requesting an Update with several exhibits pertaining to bond factors. ECF No. 10. In this Motion, Petitioner alleges that he has received no “answer or news about the case” in almost four months. /d. Upon receiving this Motion, Respondents notified the Court that they would send another copy of their Response to Petitioner. ECF No. 11. Petitioner’s Habeas Petition is now fully briefed and ripe for disposition. Because ruling on the claim raised in Petitioner’s Habeas Petition, ECF No. 1, will provide the update requested in Motion at ECF No. 10, the Court will address both filings in one breath. For the following reasons, the Court will GRANT Petitioner’s Habeas Petition, ECF No. 1, in so much as it requests that this Court direct that he be afforded a constitutionally adequate bond hearing before an Immigration Judge and will DENY Petitioner’s Habeas Petition, ECF No. 1, in all other respects. As such, this Court will DENY Petitioner’s Motion at ECF No. 10 as moot. I. Facts! Petitioner was born in Guatemala and entered the United States on a B-1 visitor visa on or around April 2, 2003. ECF No. 1, p. 2; ECF No. 9, p. 1. He was only authorized to stay in the United States until October 2, 2003, but he failed to depart by that date. ECF No. 1, p. 2; ECF No.

"The Court derives the following undisputed factual background from both Petitioner’s and Respondents’ submissions to the Court.

9, p. 1. During that time, Petitioner also “did not file any petitions or applications for adjustment of status.” ECF No. 9, p. 1. After a brief incident with the Drug Enforcement Agency (“DEA”) in 2018, the DEA arrested Petitioner “and charged him with Possession With Intent To Distribute Heroin” on January 18, 2022. ECF No. 7, p. 1; ECF No. 9, p. 2. For two years, Petitioner was on ankle monitoring pending his final court date, and on February 8, 2024, Petitioner pled guilty to “possession with intent to distribute one kilogram of heroin and was sentenced to time served and 3 years of supervised release.” ECF No. 7, p. 1; ECF No. 9, p. 2. Upon receiving his sentence, Petitioner was arrested by ICE, transferred to immigration detention, and served with a Notice to Appear. ECF No. 1, p. 2; ECF No. 9, p. 2. This Notice to Appear alleged that Petitioner was removable under INA § 237(a)(1)(B) because he is “not a citizen or national of the United States;” is “a native of Guatemala and a citizen of Guatemala;” was “admitted to the United States at Miami, Florida on or about April 2, 2003;” and “remained in the United States beyond October 2, 2003[,] without authorization from the Immigration and Naturalization Service or its successor, the Department of Homeland Security.” ECF No. 9-3, p. 2. It was later amended in part to read that he was “admitted to the United States at Miami, Florida

on or about April 2, 2003[,] as a non-immigrant B-1 visitor with authorization to remain in the United States for a temporary period not to exceed October 2, 2003[.]” ECF No. 9-4, p. 2. After several immigration proceedings, including an appeal to and partial remand from the Board of Immigration Appeals, Petitioner’s applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT protection were ultimately denied by an Immigration Judge on June 27, 2025. ECF No. 9, p. 3. Upon this denial, Petitioner appealed again to the Board of Immigration Appeals on July 21,

2025, which was subsequently denied on February 13, 2026, and then petitioned to the Third Circuit on February 24, 2026. Id.; ECF No. 8, p. 1. I. Due Process Claim Arising Out of Continued Detention Petitioner contends that “procedural due process requires that [he] be released or, at minimum, afforded a constitutionally adequate bond hearing at which the government must justify [his] continued detention.” ECF No. 1, p. 5 (capitalization adjusted). In support of his due process claim and in evaluation of the German Santos? factors, Petitioner: (1) notes that the duration of his detention is over 24 months (now over 28 months); (2) cites the fact that he has an appeal pending before the BIA (now pending before the Third Circuit); (3) explains that he has not requested any continuance or delayed his removal proceedings through other means; and (4) contends that his detention is not meaningfully different than criminal custody due to current conditions at MVPC. ECF No. 1, p. 6-12; ECF No. 10, p. 1. As such, Petitioner requests that this Court “[a]ssume jurisdiction over this matter;” order the Respondents to comply with certain filing provisions; “[g]rant a Writ of Habeas Corpus requiring Respondent to provide [him] with an individualized bond hearing before a neutral arbiter at which Respondent must bear the burden of establishing by clear and convincing evidence that [his] continued detention is justified[;]” and “[o]rder that the [T]mmigration [Jjudge must consider alternatives to detention and [his] ability to pay when setting a monetary bond[.]” ECF No. 1, p.

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Manuel Haroldo Hernandez Trabanino v. Leonard Oddo, et al., (W.D. Pa. 2026).

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