Yueming Ji (A# 220-546-175) v. Warden, et al.

District Court, E.D. California·Decided June 16, 2026·No. 1:26-cv-03442·Unknown

Opinion

YUEMING JI (A# 220-546-175), No. 1:26-cv-03442 DJC SCR Petitioner, v. FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS WARDEN, et al., Respondents. Petitioner is a federal immigration detainee proceeding through counsel in this habeas corpus action filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241. District Judge Calabretta referred the matter to the undersigned pursuant to Local Rule 302(c)(17). ECF No. 3. I. Original § 2241 Petition The undersigned construes this petition as seeking to enforce the judgment in Ji v. Noem, et al., No. 1:26-cv-001186 DJC CSK, 2026 WL 485287 (E.D. Cal. Feb. 20, 2026). There, District Judge Calabretta granted the § 2241 petition after determining that Petitioner’s re- detention without bond after his release on humanitarian parole violated procedural due process. Ji, 2026 WL 485287, at *2-*3. Due to Petitioner’s various arrests and failure to address them in his briefing, Judge Calabretta concluded that the proper remedy was a post-deprivation hearing: Within seven (7) days of this Order, Petitioner shall be afforded a constitutionally adequate bond hearing before an Immigration Judge. At this hearing, the Government shall bear the burden of establishing, by clear and convincing evidence, that Petitioner poses a danger to the community or a risk of flight, and Petitioner shall be allowed to have counsel present.

In the event Petitioner is “determined not to be a danger to the community and not to be so great a flight risk as to require detention without bond,” the Immigration Judge should consider Petitioner's financial circumstances and alternative conditions of release[.] Id. at *2-*3, n.1. II. Court-Ordered Post-Deprivation Hearing The court-ordered bond hearing occurred on February 26, 2026, before Immigration Judge (“IJ”) Katie Mullins.1 ECF No. 10 (transcript). Petitioner was represented by counsel, and the proceedings were translated by a Mandarin-English language interpreter. Id. at 2. The IJ declared at the start that the “Department [of Homeland Security] bears the burden to prove by clear and convincing evidence that respondent is either a danger or such a significant flight risk that bond should be denied on that basis.” Id. at 4:4-7. The IJ admitted three exhibits offered by the government: (1) a copy of Judge Calabretta’s habeas order; (2) Petitioner’s FBI Rap Sheet; and (3) Petitioner’s Notice to Appear (Nov. 10, 2021). Id. at 4:16-25. Petitioner submitted several documents, including, inter alia, a letter of support from a potential sponsor, a letter from a friend regarding the facts of Petitioner’s arrests, and police department records pertaining to his arrests. See ECF No. 1-1. Counsel for the government began by referencing Petitioner’s unlawful entry on July 25, 2021. ECF No. 10 at 5:1. She then acknowledged Petitioner’s asylum application filed on December 16, 2025, but expressed he was barred due to the one-year filing deadline. Id. at 6:1-4. Addressing Petitioner’s flight risk, counsel argued that a letter from a willing residential sponsor carried little weight since it was “not certain” how Petitioner could relocate to Georgia upon release when he has resided in Northern California and his arrests occurred in Southern California. Id. at 6:4-22. 1 Petitioner appeared for the court-ordered hearing on February 25, 2026, but agreed to continue it for one day to allow his attorney time to prepare. ECF No. 7-7. Regarding danger, counsel for the government pointed to Petitioner’s three arrests: (1) infliction of corporal injury to a spouse or cohabitant, Cal. Penal Code § 273.5(a) (May 5, 2023); (2) infliction of corporal injury to a spouse or cohabitant, Cal. Penal Code § 273.5(a), vandalism, Cal. Penal Code § 594(a)(2), and damaging wireless communication device, Cal. Penal Code § 591.5 (Dec. 25, 2023); and (3) infliction of corporal injury to a spouse or cohabitant in violation of Cal. Penal Code § 273.5(a) (July 1, 2025). ECF No. 10 at 6:22-25, 7:1-18. Petitioner’s counsel addressed his arrests as follows: True that my client has been arrested three times . . . [in] less than [a] two year period. Actually, . . . in all those three incidents . . . [t]he alleged victim is the same one, his ex-girlfriend. Given the fact that he was arrested for such a short time for three times by the same place, but as the DA still declined to prosecute the case for lack of evidence, the fact is that my client did not attack his ex-girlfriend. He only acted in self-defense. Next, the reason why he all those three times of arrest, he has not been either charged or the case was dismissed. But as . . . to the flight risk, I would argue that his proposed sponsor, his current girlfriend’s mom, a U.S. citizen in Georgia. So my client is waiting to relocate to Georgia after his release. So I would argue that the government does not establish by clear and convincing evidence that Mr. Ji has either flight risk or danger to community. ECF No. 10 at 8:1:12. In rebuttal, counsel for the government argued that his three arrests in two years show a lack of rehabilitation and a risk of danger. Id. at 8:20-23. After conclusion of argument, the IJ issued an oral ruling: I am exercising discretion pursuant to [Immigration Court Practice Manual] Section 9.3(e)(6) to not hear witness testimony. The court finds the evidentiary record sufficiently developed for the court to make a fully informed decision, and I am finding that the Department has met its burden to show both danger and flight by clear and convincing evidence, and the court is denying bond. The appeal deadline is March 30, 2026. Again, the appeal deadline is March 30, 2026. ECF No. 10 at 8:25, 9:1-5. The IJ then informed Petitioner of his appeal rights and confirmed his understanding. Id. at 9:14-19. III. Written Bond Memorandum On March 30, 2026, the IJ issued a bond memorandum to facilitate the BIA’s review of Petitioner’s appeal of her bond denial. ECF No. 1-1 at 36-40. The IJ summarized her oral ruling, noting both that the government bore the burden by clear and convincing evidence and that she exercised her discretion not to hear testimony from Petitioner pursuant to Immigration Court Practice Manual Section 9.3(e)(6). Id. at 36-37. The IJ then identified the relevant factors from Matter of Guerra, 24 U. & N. Dec. 37, 39 (BIA 2006) as the legal framework for her analysis. Id. at 37. The IJ wrote that based on Petitioner’s three arrests in the short time he has resided in the United States, she “easily concludes” the Department met its burden of proving dangerousness by clear and convincing evidence. ECF No. 1-1 at 38. Addressing Petitioner’s most recent July 2025 arrest, the IJ noted Petitioner’s evidence that “the district’s attorney’s office had, to date, declined to formally file charges” but emphasized that “the documents do not reflect why the district attorney had declined to file charges as of that date, and the Court is largely left to speculate as to whether the district attorney’s decision on this issue relates to Respondent’s factual guilt or innocence[.]” Id. at 37 (emphasis in original). She added that Petitioner’s record of release from the Alhambra Police Department reflecting the absence of charges states that it does not preclude further investigation of subsequent filing of charges. Id. at 38. The IJ then made an additional, independent finding that the government had established Petitioner’s flight risk by clear and convincing evidence. The IJ cited Petitioner’s unlawful entrance into the country in 2021 and then addressed his lack of lawful status: Respondent has stated an intent to seek humanitarian protection in the United States in the form of asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture. However, “[e]ven for aliens who are found to have a credible fear, a grant of asylum is uncertain, in part because the legal standard for establishin

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Yueming Ji (A# 220-546-175) v. Warden, et al., (E.D. Cal. 2026).

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