S.R. v. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Luis S.R. v. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE); Eric Klang, in his official capacity as Sheriff of Crow Wing County, Minnesota; David Easterwood, in his official capacity as Acting Field Office Director of the Saint Paul Field Office, Enforcement and Removal Operations, U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement; Todd Lyons, in his official capacity as Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Kristi Noem, in her official capacity as U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security; and Pamela Bondi, in her official capacity as Attorney General of the United States
- Jerry Blackwell
- 0:26-cv-01482
- U.S. District Court · District of Minnesota
- 4
In Luis S.R. v. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Judge Blackwell temporarily blocked the transfer or removal of an immigration detainee for 72 hours while ordering the government to provide more information about its removal plans, without yet deciding whether the detainee is likely to win his underlying challenge to his continued detention.
Immigration detainees held in the District of Minnesota who are challenging prolonged detention under Zadvydas v. Davis and who face transfer to facilities outside the district or imminent removal, particularly where the factual basis for removal is disputed.
What happened
In Luis S.R. v. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a man identified as Luis S.R. is being held in immigration detention in the District of Minnesota and has filed a legal challenge arguing that the government cannot lawfully continue to detain him because there is no realistic prospect of removing him from the United States in the near future. He asked the court to immediately stop the government from transferring him to a facility in Louisiana or removing him from the country while his case is pending. The government, by contrast, submitted a declaration saying he has been approved for transfer to a southern border office and was previously on track to be removed to Mexico before an earlier court order halted that process.
The core dispute is whether removal is genuinely imminent and concrete, or whether it remains speculative. The court found that the record as it stands does not allow a clear answer to that question. The court noted that a transfer out of the district could interfere with Luis S.R.'s access to his attorney and disrupt the court's own review of his case, and that an actual removal from the United States would permanently change the situation and could make his legal challenge moot — meaning the case could no longer be decided — before the court has a fair chance to rule.
Judge Blackwell granted the motion for a temporary restraining order in part and denied it in part, imposing a 72-hour hold that prevents the government from transferring Luis S.R. out of the district or removing him from the United States. The court stressed that this short pause is not a ruling on whether Luis S.R. will ultimately win his case. Within 48 hours, the government must file a detailed declaration explaining the purpose of the proposed transfer, whether Mexico has agreed to accept him, whether a removal date has been set, whether travel documents have been obtained, and what arrangements exist for his medical care and access to counsel. Luis S.R. may respond within 24 hours after that, and the court will then decide whether further relief is warranted.
The detailed version
Case: Luis S.R. v. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) et al., Civ. No. 26-1482 (JWB/ECW), United States District Court, District of Minnesota. Judge: Jerry W. Blackwell, United States District Judge. Date: March 17, 2026.
Background and Procedural Posture Petitioner Luis S.R. is an immigration detainee currently held within the District of Minnesota. He filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus (a court order requiring the government to justify holding someone in custody) under Zadvydas v. Davis, 533 U.S. 678 (2001), a Supreme Court case holding that the government generally cannot detain a person subject to removal indefinitely when there is no significant likelihood of removal in the reasonably foreseeable future. Alongside his habeas petition, Luis S.R. moved for a temporary restraining order (TRO) — an emergency court order to preserve the status quo — specifically to prevent his transfer out of the district to a facility in Louisiana and to prevent his removal from the United States while his case proceeds.
The Factual Dispute The parties presented conflicting accounts of the removal situation. Luis S.R. argued that no country has agreed to accept him, that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has not identified a country willing to take him, and that there is no concrete removal plan, meaning his continued detention is unlawful under Zadvydas. The government respondents, by contrast, submitted a declaration stating that Luis S.R. has been conditionally approved for transfer to a southern border field office for removal to Mexico, and that removal had been anticipated before being halted by earlier court action.
Legal Standard To obtain a TRO, a petitioner must make a clear showing under the Dataphase factors, drawn from Dataphase Systems, Inc. v. C L Sys., Inc., 640 F.2d 109, 113 (8th Cir. 1981). Those factors include: (1) likelihood of success on the merits; (2) threat of irreparable harm if the TRO is not granted; (3) the balance of harms between the parties; and (4) the public interest.
Court's Analysis Judge Blackwell found that the likelihood-of-success factor — the key threshold question — could not be resolved on the current record because the factual dispute about whether removal is meaningfully foreseeable or merely speculative remained unresolved. The court therefore declined to make a full TRO determination at this stage.
However, the court found that the equities supported a brief preservation of the status quo. Specifically, the court noted: (1) a transfer to Louisiana could interfere with Luis S.R.'s access to counsel; (2) a transfer could disrupt ongoing judicial review; and (3) actual removal from the United States would irreversibly alter the case's posture and could moot his habeas claim — meaning the court might lose the ability to grant meaningful relief — before the petition could be properly adjudicated.
Ruling Judge Blackwell granted the TRO motion in part and denied it in part. The court imposed a 72-hour administrative hold restraining respondents from (a) transferring Luis S.R. out of the District of Minnesota or (b) removing him from the United States, subject to possible extension. The court expressly stated that this order does not constitute a finding that Luis S.R. is likely to succeed on the merits of his habeas petition.
Supplemental Briefing Ordered Within 48 hours, respondents must file a supplemental declaration addressing with specificity: (a) the purpose of the proposed transfer to Louisiana and whether it is part of a concrete removal plan; (b) whether Mexico or any other country has approved or agreed to accept Luis S.R., and the factual basis for that claim; (c) whether a removal date has been scheduled and what steps remain; (d) whether travel documents, diplomatic assurances, or other acceptance materials have been obtained; and (e) what arrangements, if any, exist for continuity of medical care and access to counsel in the event of transfer. Luis S.R. may file a response within 24 hours after the government's supplemental filing. The court will then determine whether further injunctive relief is warranted.
Reviewer note from the AI+
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