BERKELEY, Calif. — A 23-year-old UC Berkeley student and Colombian asylum seeker has been released from federal immigration custody after a judge ruled that her detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement violated her constitutional right to due process.
Paula Valentina Albornoz Hernandez was arrested Oct. 30 at San Francisco International Airport while preparing to travel to Oregon with her boyfriend. U.S. District Judge Dena M. Coggins granted her habeas corpus petition Nov. 6 and ordered her immediate release.
According to Berkeleyside, Albornoz Hernandez was released Nov. 9 after spending more than a week in federal custody.
Albornoz Hernandez has lived in the United States since 2022, when she fled Colombia to escape gender-based violence. She is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in business administration at UC Berkeley and has a pending asylum application and employment authorization.
Her attorneys argued that she had complied with the requirements of her asylum process and was unlawfully detained despite having federal authorization to work.
Nikolas De Bremaeker, a managing attorney at Centro Legal de la Raza, said Albornoz Hernandez had followed the requirements of her asylum application.
“She filed her asylum application well before her filing deadline,” De Bremaeker said. “She has attended her biometrics appointments, which she cleared, and subsequently received her work permit.”
The Department of Homeland Security defended the arrest, arguing that Albornoz Hernandez lacked lawful immigration status because her authorized period of admission had expired.
According to KTVU, DHS said she entered the country legally Sept. 6, 2022, but remained after her authorized stay expired March 6, 2023.
The agency maintained that a pending asylum application and employment authorization do not independently confer lawful immigration status.
Albornoz Hernandez’s attorneys filed a habeas corpus petition Nov. 2 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, arguing that her detention violated the Constitution because she had been deprived of her liberty without adequate notice or an opportunity to challenge the government’s decision.
The case, Albornoz Hernandez v. Warden, California City Detention Facility, No. 1:26-cv-09063, was assigned to Coggins.
In her Nov. 6 ruling, Coggins determined that the government had failed to provide Albornoz Hernandez with constitutionally adequate procedures before taking her into custody.
The court concluded that due process required adequate notice and a hearing before a neutral decision-maker before the government could detain her under the circumstances presented.
Coggins ordered Albornoz Hernandez released immediately under the same conditions that applied before her October arrest.
The judge prohibited ICE from imposing additional restrictions, including electronic monitoring, unless those restrictions were determined to be necessary at a future custody hearing.
The order also required federal authorities to return her documents and personal belongings and file a notice confirming compliance within three days.
If the government seeks to detain Albornoz Hernandez again, it must provide at least seven days’ notice and conduct a bond hearing before a neutral decision-maker.
The ruling does not address circumstances in which she might be detained after receiving an executable final removal order.
Federal court records show that the government filed a notice of compliance Nov. 10.
Albornoz Hernandez’s arrest prompted demonstrations and an organized response from the UC Berkeley community.
According to KQED, nearly 300 students gathered at Sproul Plaza on Nov. 4 to demand her release.
University officials also organized approximately 30 letters of support from community leaders and elected officials, including U.S. Reps. Lateefah Simon and Sam Liccardo, state Sen. Jesse Arreguín, Assemblymember Buffy Wicks and Berkeley Mayor Adena Ishii.
In a statement following the release order, UC Berkeley Chancellor Rich Lyons welcomed the decision.
“This is a moment to remember what’s possible when our community comes together to support one of our own,” Lyons said.
De Bremaeker said the community response demonstrated Albornoz Hernandez’s strong ties to the university and surrounding community.
The decision comes amid a growing number of federal habeas challenges questioning whether immigration authorities can detain people already residing in the United States without adequate procedural protections.
In a separate case, Singh v. Baltasar, U.S. District Judge William J. Martínez ruled March 4 that Indian asylum seeker Harkirat Singh was entitled to an individualized bond hearing.
Singh had previously been released from immigration custody and complied with government reporting requirements before being detained again.
Martínez granted his habeas petition and ordered immigration authorities to provide a bond hearing within seven days under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a).
Although the cases involved different circumstances and legal arguments, both addressed procedural protections for noncitizens challenging immigration detention.
Albornoz Hernandez’s release does not resolve her underlying immigration case.
According to Lizzie Fulton, the attorney representing her in immigration proceedings, Albornoz Hernandez will continue pursuing asylum while preparing her case outside federal detention.
Fulton said her client was eager to return to her studies after missing classes during her detention.
“One of her big concerns while she was detained was missing classes,” Fulton told Berkeleyside. “She called her graduate student instructor and asked how she can jump right back in when she’s released.”
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