A federal judge in New Jersey has ordered immigration authorities to immediately release a Colombia-bound detainee, ruling that officials violated his constitutional rights by holding him past a court-mandated departure date and then using that delay to justify keeping him in custody.

Case Details

U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz ruled on July 21, 2026, in favor of Marlon Andres Torres Gomez, who was being held at the Delaney Hall Detention Center. Immigration records show that on May 12, 2026, an immigration judge gave Torres Gomez until June 11 to voluntarily depart the United States.

Despite efforts by his attorney to coordinate his departure, Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not allow Torres Gomez to leave prior to June 11. Government attorneys then argued that because the deadline passed without his departure, his voluntary status expired and converted into a final order of removal.

However, Judge Farbiarz rejected that reasoning, finding that the government’s continued detention of Torres Gomez lacked meaningful procedural safeguards and violated the Due Process Clause of the Constitution.

Ruling and Release

The court dismissed three post-deadline explanations offered by government attorneys and ordered that Torres Gomez be released promptly from federal custody. The ruling noted that previous court records found Torres Gomez posed no danger to the community, and the court indicated it expected him to take immediate steps to voluntarily leave the country upon his release.

Original reporting: Tampa Free Press — read the source article.