Nelson Matote Matute, also known as Carlos Jabier Martinez v. Luis Soto, et...

NOT FOR PUBLICATION UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY NELSON MATOTE MATUTE, also known as CARLOS JABIER MARTINEZ Petitioner, Civil Action No. 26-0820 (GC) V. MEMORANDUM & ORDER LUIS SOTO, ef al in his official capacity as Director, Delaney Hall Detention Facility Respondents.

CASTNER, District Judge THIS MATTER comes before the Court on the petition for writ of habeas corpus (Petition) pursuant to 28 U.S.C, § 2241 (§ 2241) filed, through counsel, by Petitioner Nelson Matute Matute.! (ECF No, 1.) According to the Petition, Petitioner is currently confined in immigration detention at the Delaney Hal! Detention Facility in Newark, New Jersey. Ud. 1.)

In the Petition, Petitioner requests an order prohibiting his transfer from the District of New Jersey during the pendency of this matter. (/d.) Petitioner also seeks an order to show cause (“OTSC”) Petitioner names as Respondents (in their official capacities): Luis Soto, Director of the Delaney Hall Detention Facility; Ruben Perez, Acting Field Office Director of the Newark Field Office for Enforcement and Removal Operations, U.S. Immigration. Customs Enforcement (“ICE”); Todd Lyons, Acting Director of ICE; and Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security. (ECF No. | at 1, I] 5-8.) requiring Respondents to show cause why a writ of habeas corpus should not issue within three days. (ECF No. 1-3 at 24.) 28 U.S.C. § 2243 provides in relevant part that “[a] court, justice or judge entertaining an application for a writ of habeas corpus shall forthwith award the writ or issue an order directing the respondent to show cause why the writ should not be granted, unless it appears from the application that the applicant or person detained is not entitled thereto.” Under this statutory provision, “{t]he writ, or order to show cause shall be directed to the person having custody of the person detained. It shall be returned within three days unless for good cause additional time, not exceeding twenty days, is allowed.”

However, “[t]hat statute .. . is ‘not the only statute governing a habeas petition □□ Schumaker vy. Knight, No. 23-20834, 2024 WL 866347, at *1 (D.NUJI. Feb. 29, 2024) (quoting Tremashvili vy. Rodriguez, No. 15-6320, 2017 WL 935441, at *2 (D.N.J. Mar. 9, 2017)). Rule 4 of the Rules Governing Section 2254 Cases (“Habeas Rule 4”), applicable to 28 U.S.C, § 2241 cases through Rule 1(b) of the Rules Governing Section 2254 Cases, “provides the Court an alternative procedure, one that takes priority over the requirements of 28 U.S.C. § 2243.” Jd; see alse Tremashvili, 2017 WL 935441, at *224 (explaining that, as a procedural rule subsequently adopted by the Supreme Court and approved by Congress, Rule 4 supersedes § 2243). “Because Habeas Rule 4’s flexible time limits apply, ‘the Court is not obligated to issue a show-cause order. . . 5 indeed, the common practice for courts in this District is to order respondents lo answer within 45 days.’ fremashvili, 2017 WL 935441], at *4.” Benitez Castro v. Bondi, No. 25-17598, 2025 WL 3213829, at *1 n.5 (D.NJ. Nov. 18, 2025).

This Court has screened the Petilion for dismissal pursuant to Habeas Rule 4 and has determined that dismissal without an expedited answer and production of the record is not warranted, Pursuant to the All Writs Act, see 28 U.S.C. § 1651(a) (empowering the federal courts to “issue all writs necessary or appropriate in aid of their respective jurisdictions and agreeable to the usages and principles of law”), the Court orders that Petitioner shal! not be transferred from the District of New Jersey, or removed from the United States, pending further order of this Court.

IT IS, therefore, on this Axis, of January, 2026, ORDERED as follows: ORDERED that Petitioner SHALL NOT be TRANSFERRED from the District of New Jersey, or REMOVED from the United States, pending further order of this Court; and itis further ORDERED that Petitioner’s request for an OTSC is DENTED; and if is further ORDERED that the Clerk of the Court shail serve a copy of the Petition (ECF No. 1, the attachments (ECF Nos, 1-1 through 1-7), and this Memorandum and Order upon Respondents by electronic mail and regular US. Mail, with all costs of service advanced by the United States; and it is further ORDERED that the Clerk of the Court shall send a copy of the Petition (ECF No. 1), the attachments (ECF Nos. 1-1 through 1-7), and this Memorandum and Order to the Chief, Civil Division, United States Attorney’s Office, at the following email address: USANJ- [email protected]; and it is further ORDERED that, within twenty-one (21) days of the date of entry of this Order, Respondents shall electronically file a full and complete answer to the Petition (ECF No. 1), which responds to the factual and legal allegations of the Petition; and itis further ORDERED that the answer shall state the statutory authority for Petitioner's detention, see ULS,.C. § 2243, and provide the relevant legal analysis and record; and it is further ORDERED that Respondents shall raise in the answer any appropriate defenses and relevant legal arguments with citations to appropriate legal authority; and it is further ORDERED that Respondents shall electronically file with the answer certified copies of the administrative record and all other documents relevant to Petitioner’s claims; and it is further ORDERED that all exhibits to the answer must be identified by a descriptive name in the electronic filing entry, for example: “Exhibit #1 Transcript of [lype of proceeding] held on XX/XX/XXXX” or “Exhibit #2 Opinion entered on XX/XX/XXXX by Judge YY”; and it is further ORDERED that Petitioner may file and serve a reply in support of the Petition within fourteen (14) days after the answer is filed; and it is further ORDERED that within seven (7) days after any change in Petitioner’s custody or immigration status (be it release or otherwise) occurring any time during the pendency of this case, Respondents shall electronically file a written notice of the same with the Clerk of the Court.

oie astin GEORGETVE CASTNER Inited States District Judge