(HC) Riego v. Current or Acting Field Office Director, San Francisco Field Office, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA VENANCIO ESTEBAN RIEGO, Case No. 1:24-cv-01162-SKO-HC 12 Petitioner, ORDER GRANTING PETITIONER’S MOTION TO AMEND TO NAME A 13 v. PROPER RESPONDENT [Doc. 14] MINGA WOFFORD, ORDER SUBSTITUTING MINGA 15 Respondent. WOFFORD AS RESPONDENT 17 Petitioner is a non-citizen detainee proceeding pro se with a petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241. He filed the instant petition on March 25, 2024. Upon review of the petition, the Court found Petitioner had failed to name a proper respondent. Thus, on October 3, 2024, the Court granted Petitioner leave to amend the respondent to avoid dismissal of the action. (Doc. 12.) On October 24, 2024, Petitioner filed a motion to amend the respondent. (Doc. 14.)

23 DISCUSSION 24 A petitioner seeking habeas corpus relief must name the officer having custody of him as the respondent to the petition. 28 U.S.C. § 2242; Rumsfeld v. Padilla, 542 U.S. 426, 430 (2004); Ortiz-Sandoval v. Gomez, 81 F.3d 891, 894 (9th Cir. 1996). As explained by the Supreme Court in Padilla, the proper respondent in habeas cases “is the warden of the facility official.” Padilla, 542 U.S. at 435.

2 Petitioner is being detained at Golden State Annex (“GSA”) located in McFarland, California. Petitioner seeks to amend his petition to name Minga Wofford, the administrator at GSA, as the respondent in this matter. Because Ms. Wofford has direct custody of Petitioner, she is a proper respondent. Padilla, 542 U.S. at 440 (“the immediate custodian, not a supervisory official who exercises legal control, is the proper respondent”).

7 ORDER 8 Accordingly, Petitioner’s motion to amend the petition is GRANTED, and Minga Wofford is SUBSTITUTED as Respondent in this matter.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

12 Dated: October 27, 2024 /s/ Sheila K. Oberto .

UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE