1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 CARLOS RIOS, Case No.: 25-cv-2866-JES-VET

12 Petitioner, ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO 13 v. APPOINT COUNSEL

14 KRISTI NOEM, Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security; [ECF No. 3] 15 PAMELA BONDI, Attorney General of 16 the United States; TODD M. LYONS, Acting Director, Immigration and 17 Customs Enforcement; JESUS 18 ROCHA, Acting Field Office Director, San Diego Field Office; and 19 CHRISTOPHER J. LAROSE, Senior 20 Warden, Otay Mesa Detention Center, 21 Respondents. 22 23 Before the Court is Petitioner’s Motion for Appointment of Counsel. ECF No. 3. 24 Petitioner moves for appointment of counsel pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3006A(a)(2). Id. at 2. 25 Under this statute, the district court may appoint counsel for an impoverished habeas 26 petitioner seeking relief under

whenever “the court determines that the 27 interest of justice so require …” Bashor v. Risley,

(9th Cir. 1984) 28 (quoting 18 U.S.C. § 3006A(g)). The Court “must evaluate both the likelihood of success 1 ||}on the merits and the ability of the petitioner to articulate his claims pro se in light of the 2 || complexity of the legal issues involved.” Rand v. Rowland,

(9th Cir. 1997) 3 || (citations omitted). 4 The Federal Defenders of San Diego, Inc., is ready and able to assist Petitioner in 5 matter. See generally ECF No. 3. Having carefully considered the arguments raised 6 ||in Petitioner’s motion, the Court finds that the appointment of counsel 1s appropriate in 7 || this case. The Court therefore GRANTS Petitioner’s motion for appointment of counsel 8 |}and APPOINTS Federal Defenders of San Diego, Inc. to represent him. 9 IT IS SO ORDERED. 10 11 || Dated: October 27, 2025 Smet 12 Honorable James E. Sunmons Jr. 13 United States District Judge 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28