ODIASE v. ODDO

District Court, W.D. Pennsylvania·Decided September 18, 2025·No. 3:25-cv-00206·Unknown

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA

OVBOKHAN ADUN ODIASE, ) ) Petitioner, ) ) vs. ) Civil Action No. 3:25-206 ) Judge Stephanie L. Haines LEONARD ODDO, in his official ) capacity as Warden of Moshannon Valley □□ □ Processing Center, et al., ) ) Respondents. ) OPINION Petitioner Ovbokhan Adun Odiase (““Ms. Odiase”), a citizen of Nigeria who is currently in immigration custody, requests that this Court extend its previously granted Temporary Restraining Order (“T.R.O.”),! ECF Nos. 27, 31, and that this Court “enjoin Respondents from removing her from the continental United States unless and until they comply with the minimum requirements of due process and the protections against persecution and torture enshrined in U.S. and international law.” ECF No. 37, p. 15. As more specifically articulated at the September 16, 2025, hearing regarding the existing T.R.O., Ms. Odiase asks this Court to order Respondents to demonstrate that credible and reasonable assurances have been made by Ghana—the country to which Respondents were seeking to remove Ms. Odiase—that (1) Ms. Odiase will not be persecuted should she be removed to Ghana and that (2) Ghana would not subsequently remove Ms. Odiase to Nigeria—her native country from which the Immigration Judge withheld her

! The Court previously granted Ms. Odiase’s Motion for a T.R.O. for the limited purpose of “preserv[ing] the status quo ... only so long as is necessary to develop a fuller record and hold a hearing.” ECF No. 31. In doing so, the Court withheld full resolution of Ms. Odiase’s Motion until the record was sufficiently developed. ECF No. 31. The record now being fully developed, the Court now turns to resolve Ms. Odiase’s Motion for a T.R.O., ECF No. 27, on its merits,

removal due to her fear of persecution. Ms. Odiase also requests a reasonable fear interview before an asylum officer so that she may present her claims of fear regarding removal to Ghana. See ECF No. 37, p. 3. For the following reasons, the Court finds that it lacks jurisdiction over Ms. Odiase’s requests, and the Court therefore will DENY her Motion. ECF No. 27. I. Background? Ms. Odiase is a native and citizen of Nigeria. ECF No. 37-1, § 1. When she was six years old, she was subjected to female genital mutilation (“FMG”). Jd at § 3. At twenty-five, Ms. Odiase married her ex-husband, and the two subsequently had children—a son and a daughter. /d. at {9 4-5; ECF No. 1, § 12. Despite Ms. Odiase’s opposition, her family was adamant that her daughter be subjected to FMG. ECF No. 37-1, 45. In order to protect her daughter and herself, Ms. Odiase came to the United States in October of 2020 on a B2 nonimmigrant visa and was joined by her children in March of 2021 when they also arrived in the United States on B2 nonimmigrant visas—all three visas were to expire on April 13, 2021. ECF No. 1, 14-15. In early October 2021, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) initiated removal proceedings against Ms. Odiase by issuing a Notice to Appear, charging her as removable for overstaying her B2 visa. Jd. at § 16. Subsequently, in late October, Ms. Odiase applied for asylum, id. at 17, and obtained both work authorization and a Social Security number approximately six months later— which she utilized to find employment in New Jersey, supporting herself and her children. Jd. at q 18.

2 The Court derives the following factual background from Ms. Odiase’s habeas petition, ECF No. 1, her Brief in support of her Motion for a T.R.O., ECF No. 29, and her Reply in support of her Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order, ECF No. 37-1, as well as the exhibits attached to each filing. .

Ms. Odiase was arrested on February 20, 2024, on charges including robbery, conspiracy, aggravated assault, and burglary. ECF No. 1-5. The following day, February 21, 2024, Ms. Odiase was released on non-monetary conditions from state custody but was detained by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement “(ICE”) and ultimately moved to Moshannon Valley Processing Center (“Moshannon”). ECF No. 1, §§ 21-22. On January 10, 2025, an Immigration Judge rendered a decision in Ms. Odiase’s removal proceedings, finding her removable under Section 237(a)(1)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”) (8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(1)(B)) but withholding her removal to Nigeria under INA § 241(b)(3) (8 U.S.C. 1231(b)(3)), due to her fear of persecution, removal, or death upon return. ECF No. 37, p. 1; ECF No. 1-7. The Immigration Judge did not designate an alternative country of removal. Jd. at p. 3; ECF No. 29, p. 4. Both parties waived appeal of the Immigration Judge’s determination, rendering the removal decision administratively final on January 10, 2025. ECF No. 1, 4 25; ECF No. 1-7, p. 4. Ms. Odiase commenced this action on July 9, 2025, filing, through counsel, a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus (“Petition”), ECF No. 1, and a Motion for Emergent Relief, ECF No. 2, with an accompanying Brief in Support, ECF No. 3. Respondents Leonard Oddo (in his official capacity as Warden of Moshannon), Brian McShane (in his official capacity as Acting Field Office Director of ICE, Enforcement and Removal Operations (“ERO”), Philadelphia Field Office), Kristi Noem (in her official capacity as Secretary of DHS) and Pam Bondi (in her official capacity as Attorney General of the United States) (collectively, “Respondents’’), through counsel, filed a Response Brief in Opposition to Ms. Odiase’s Motion for Emergent Relief on July 17, 2025, ECF No. 9, and Petitioner filed a Reply Brief in Support on July 18, 2025. ECF No. 10. On July 31, 2025, this Court issued an Opinion and Order, ECF Nos. 11, 12, denying Ms. Odiase’s Motion for Emergent Relief.

In its July 31st Opinion, the Court assumed, without deciding, that Ms. Odiase had shown that her post-removal detention had surpassed six months but nevertheless found that she “failed to produce evidence demonstrating good cause to believe that there [wa]s no significant likelihood of her removal in the reasonably foreseeable future.” ECF No. 11, p. 6. The Court noted that although four of the five Requests for Acceptance of Petitioner that ERO had sent to countries including Brazil, France, Jamaica, Japan, and Spain had been denied, the Jamaica Request remained pending. /d. at p.7. Thus, because there remained a significant likelihood of removal in a foreseeable time, Petitioner “failed to satisfy the likelihood-of-success-on-the-merits factor because she ha[d] not met the burden prescribed by Zadvydas.” See Zadvydas v. Davis, 533 U.S. 678, 701 (2001) (“After this 6-month period, once the alien provides good reason to believe that there is no significant likelihood of removal in the reasonably foreseeable future, the Government must respond with evidence sufficient to rebut that showing.”’). On August 11, 2025, after the matter was returned to the assigned Magistrate Judge to adjudicate Ms. Odiase’s underlying Petition, Ms. Odiase filed an Emergency Motion for Discovery, ECF No. 15, and an accompanying brief in support, ECF No. 16, contending that discovery was necessary to determine the status of the outstanding Jamaica Request and whether her removal was reasonably foreseeable. Magistrate Judge Dodge granted that Motion on August 12, 2025. ECF No. 18. Respondents objected, ECF Nos. 19, 21, and this Court issued a Memorandum Order on August 15, 2025, ECF No. 22, affirming Judge Dodge’s August 12" decision. On September 4, 2025, Ms. Odiase filed a Motion for a T.R.O., ECF No. 27, and accompanying brief in support. ECF No. 29. Therein, Ms.

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