Nounagnon Thomas Ayidedji v. Jeremy Casey, Warden

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 NOUNAGNON THOMAS AYIDEDJI, Case No.: 3:26-cv-1624-CAB-MMP

12 Petitioner, ORDER: 13 v. (1) GRANTING MOTION TO 14 JEREMY CASEY, Warden, PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS; 15 Respondent. AND

16 (2) ORDERING RESPONSE 17 18 Petitioner Nounagnon Thomas Ayidedji, an immigration detainee proceeding pro 19 se1, has filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241. [Doc. 20 No. 1 (“Petition”).] Petitioner has also filed a motion to proceed in forma pauperis in which 21 he attests he has no means to pay the $5.00 filing fee. [Doc. No. 2.] The Court GRANTS 22 Petitioner’s application to proceed in forma pauperis. The Clerk shall file the Petition 23 without prepayment of the filing fee. 24 25

26 1 Petitioner may be interested in contacting Federal Defenders of San Diego to see if a Federal Defender 27 can represent Petitioner in this matter. The telephone number for Federal Defenders’ San Diego Office is 619-234-8467 (Toll Free: 888-614-9867) and the El Centro Office is 760-335-3510 (Toll Free: 877- 28 1 Additionally, having reviewed the Petition, the Court finds summary dismissal is 2 || unwarranted at this tine. Kourteva v. INS, 151 F. Supp. 2d 1126, 1128 (N.D. Cal. 2001) 3 ||(“Summary dismissal is appropriate only where the allegations in the petition are vague or 4 ||conclusory, palpably incredible, or patently frivolous or false.”’). 5 Accordingly, the Court ORDERS as follows: 6 1. Respondent shall file a response to the Petition by March 24, 2026. The 7 ||response must address the allegations in the Petition and must include any documents 8 relevant to the determination of the issues raised in the Petition. 9 2. Respondent shall serve a copy of the response on Petitioner by March 26, 10 2026. 1] 3. Petitioner may file a reply by April 2, 2026. 12 4. To maintain the status quo, Respondent, his officers, agents, servants, 13 |;}employees, attorneys, and other persons who act in concert or participation with 14 || Respondent SHALL NOT transfer Petitioner outside of the Southern District of California 15 || pending the Court’s resolution of the Petition.” 16 5. The Clerk of Court shall provide the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney’s 17 || Office with a copy of the Petition and this Order. 18 It is SO ORDERED. 19 Dated: March 17, 2026 (GB 20 Hon. Cathy Ann Bencivengo 21 United States District Judge 22 23 24 25 26 ? See Doe v. Bondi, Case No. 3:25-cv-805-BJC-JLB, 2025 WL 1870979, at *1 (S.D. Cal. June 11, 2025) 27 (“Federal courts retain jurisdiction to preserve the status quo while determining whether [they have] 28 subject matter jurisdiction over a case and while a petition is pending resolution from the court.”) (collecting cases).