Renata Nigiematulina v. Warden of Otay Mesa Detention Center, et al.

8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA RENATA NIGIEMATULINA, Case No. 25-cv-02933-BAS-BJW 12 Petitioner, ORDER: 13 v. (1) GRANTING MOTION TO WARDEN OF OTAY MESA PROCEED IN FORMA DETENTION CENTER, et al., 15 PAUPERIS (ECF No. 2); Respondents. (2) REQUIRING THE 17 GOVERNMENT TO RESPOND TO THE PETITION; AND 19 (3) REFERRING PETITION TO FEDERAL DEFENDERS FOR EVALUATION REGARDING 21 APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL

24 On October 28, 2025, Petitioner Renata Nigiematulina filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241. (ECF No. 1.) Petitioner also filed a Motion to Proceed In Forma Pauperis. (ECF No. 2.) Petitioner, an immigration detainee, attests that she has no assets and cannot pay the $5.00 filing fee. (Id.) The Court grants the Motion to proceed without paying the filing fee.

1 Turning to the allegations, Petitioner claims she is a Russian national who has been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement since November 2024. (Pet. at 2.)

3 Petitioner claims she cannot be removed to Russia, and her removal is not otherwise reasonably foreseeable. (Id. at 3.) Hence, she alleges her continued detention for over six months violates the Fifth Amendment and is contrary to Zadvydas v. Davis, 533 U.S. 678 6 (2001).

7 Having reviewed the Petition, the Court finds summary dismissal is unwarranted at this time. See Kourteva v. INS, 151 F. Supp. 2d 1126, 1128 (N.D. Cal. 2001) (“Summary dismissal is appropriate only where the allegations in the petition are vague or conclusory, palpably incredible, or patently frivolous or false.”). Therefore, the Court will order the Government to respond to the Petition.

12 Finally, given Petitioner’s allegations, the Court finds it appropriate to refer this Petition to Federal Defenders of San Diego, Inc. for an evaluation. The Court requests that Federal Defenders determine whether Petitioner would benefit from the appointment of counsel.

16 Accordingly, the Court ORDERS as follows: 17 1. The Motion to Proceed In Forma Pauperis (ECF No. 2) is GRANTED.

18 2. The Government must file a response to the Petition no later than November 19 7, 2025. The Government’s response must address the allegations in the 20 Petition and must include any documents relevant to the determination of the 21 issues raised in the Petition.

22 3. The Clerk of Court shall provide the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney’s 23 Office with a copy of the Petition (ECF No. 1) and this Order.

24 4. The Court REFERS this Petition to Federal Defenders for an evaluation of 25 whether appointment of counsel would be beneficial to Petitioner. The Court 26 requests that Federal Defenders make its evaluation and file a status report or 27 appropriate motion by November 13, 2025.

I 5. The Clerk of Court shall serve a copy of the Petition (ECF No. 1) and this 2 Order on Federal Defenders of San Diego, Inc. 3 IT IS SO ORDERED.

5 || DATED: October 30, 2025 yatta Bahar 6 Hon. Cynthia Bashant, Chief Judge 4 United States District Court Qe