Nauta Ordonez v. U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK EDWIN BERNARDO NAUTA ORDONEZ, Petitioner, Civ. 7915 (JHR) -against- U.S. IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOM ORDER ENFORCEMENT; U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, Respondent.

JENNIFER H. REARDEN, United States District Judge: Emma Contreras brings this petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 as “next friend” for Petitioner Edwin Bernardo Nauta Ordonez, who is currently detained at the Delaney Hall Detention Facility in Newark, New Jersey.1 ECF No. 1. Petitioner paid the filing fee for this action. Id. In order to entertain a habeas corpus petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241, a court must have jurisdiction over the custodian. See Braden v. 30th Judicial Circuit Court of Kentucky, 410 U.S. 484, 494-95 (1973) (“The writ of habeas corpus does not act upon the prisoner who seeks relief, but upon the person who holds him in what is alleged to be unlawful custody.”). Thus, the jurisdiction of a habeas petition challenging a petitioner’s physical confinement generally lies in the district of his confinement. Rumsfeld v. Padilla, 542 U.S. 426, 442 (2004) (“The plain language of the habeas statute thus confirms the general rule that for core habeas petitions challenging present physical confinement, jurisdiction lies in only one district: the district of Petitioner’s whereabouts were determined from the online ICE detainee locator, www.locator.ice.gov. confinement.”). The Delaney Hall Detention Facility, where Petitioner is detained, is in the District of New Jersey. 28 U.S.C. § 110. Accordingly, the Court transfers this petition to the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. See 28 U.S.C. 8§ 1404(a), 14066(a).

Because this petition seeks the immediate release of an individual in custody, the Court waives Local Civil Rule 83.1’s seven-day waiting period. The Clerk of Court shall therefore transfer this action upon the filing of this Order, which closes the case in the Southern District of New York.

SO ORDERED.

Dated: September 26, 2025 New York, New York Be Lock JENNTFER H. Reardon United States District Judge