Zamora v. Almodovar
- Ronnie Abrams
- 1:25-cv-08643
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
Counsel of record per CourtListener. Firm names are approximate.
In Lopez Zamora v. Almodovar, Judge Abrams granted in part a request to seal exhibits, keeping two sealed and requiring redactions to two others.
Jordy Lopez Zamora, the parties to the case, and members of the public seeking access to the exhibits.
What happened
In Lopez Zamora v. Almodovar, Jordy Lopez Zamora asked to file four exhibits in his immigration detention case under seal. He said the exhibits contained sensitive medical, personal, employment, family, criminal-history, and asylum-related information.
The request covered a mental-health declaration, bond evidence, an immigration judge’s bond memorandum, and the immigration judge’s decision about Lopez Zamora’s fear-based claims. The government’s lawyer took no position on the request.
Judge Ronnie Abrams granted the request in part. Exhibits B and C were to remain under seal, while Lopez Zamora was required to file narrowly tailored redactions for Exhibits F and H no later than one week after the order.
The detailed version
- Zamora v. Almodovar · No. 1:25-cv-08643
- Ronnie Abrams
- July 17, 2026
Background
Jordy Lopez Zamora, through counsel, asked for permission to file four exhibits under seal in his petition challenging his immigration detention. The exhibits were:
- Exhibit B: a declaration by Ashley Guzman, LMSW, containing mental-health, trauma, treatment, personal, and employment information; - Exhibit C: bond evidence, including support letters, identifying documents, family and employment information, psychosocial evaluations, criminal-history documents, a declaration by Lopez Zamora, medical records, and workers’ compensation materials; - Exhibit F: the immigration judge’s bond memorandum; and - Exhibit H: the immigration judge’s decision concerning Lopez Zamora’s fear-based asylum-related claims.
Counsel stated that the exhibits contained sensitive information, including medical records, personal and family information, information about sealed or soon-to-be-sealed criminal cases, and information about trauma, torture, and cooperation with law enforcement. Counsel also stated that the government’s attorney took no position on the sealing request.
Sealing Request
The request relied on the presumption of public access to court records and the requirement that restrictions be narrowly tailored. Counsel argued that the sensitive information in the exhibits outweighed the public-access presumption and that sealing the four exhibits was narrowly tailored to protect that information.
Ruling
Judge Ronnie Abrams granted the request in part. Exhibits B and C—the declaration by Ashley Guzman and the bond evidence, including the medical records—were to remain under seal. For Exhibits F and H, the immigration judge’s bond memorandum and fear-based-claims decision, the court required Lopez Zamora to prepare tailored redactions consistent with the court’s cited standard. Those redactions were due no later than one week after the order.
The text provided does not state that Exhibits F and H were to remain entirely sealed; it states that tailored redactions were required for them.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.