A federal judge has ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to explain why a 24-year-old transgender asylum seeker was detained just hours after attending a court hearing in Portland. The judge also demanded the agency provide the exact date and time of the arrest and justify why the action was “immediately necessary.”
U.S. District Judge Amy Baggio ruled that the asylum seeker must not be removed from Oregon without prior notice. If she has already been transported, ICE must inform the court within two hours of receiving the order.
The woman, referred to by the pseudonym “O-J-M,” fled Mexico in September 2023 after facing cartel-related violence tied to her gender identity and sexual orientation. She is represented by Innovation Law Lab, whose attorneys said she was arrested by ICE agents shortly after attending an asylum hearing on Monday—where ICE lawyers reportedly tried to dismiss her case.
Later that day, her legal team filed a habeas corpus petition in federal court. They argued the arrest violated her Fifth Amendment due process rights and urged the court to order her release. The petition also requested an explanation from ICE and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on why her asylum plea should not be granted.
Judge Baggio’s directive instructs ICE not to move O-J-M from the detention center and to ensure she is present for a hearing in Oregon, asserting that the federal court in Oregon holds jurisdiction.
Court filings indicate O-J-M was removed from Oregon around 3 p.m. on Monday. The petition calls for DHS and ICE to confirm her current status and whether she’s still within state boundaries.
ICE and DHS have until Thursday at noon to respond to the court order.
This case may mark the first reported ICE courthouse arrest in Portland, part of a broader national trend. Under the Trump administration, ICE scrapped earlier guidelines on arrest locations, leading to detentions of asylum seekers, foreign students, permanent residents, and undocumented workers across the country.
