# Opinion > District Court, E.D. California · May 28, 2026 URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/11384933 ## Case - **Full name:** Diego Antonio Mosqueda Sandoval v. Warden of the Golden State Annex Detention Facility, et al. - **Court:** District Court, E.D. California - **Decided:** May 28, 2026 - **Opinion:** 100trialcourt - **Cited by:** 0 later opinions in the Frix Law Library ## Citator (automated) - No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases. - Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/11384933 ## Opinion text 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 DIEGO ANTONIO MOSQUEDA Case No. 1:26-cv-02832-JLT-EGC SANDOVAL (A No. 221-033-919), 12 ORDER DENYING THE PETITION FOR Petitioner, HABEAS CORPUS; DENYING 13 PETITIONER’S REQUEST FOR v. TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER AS 14 MOOT WARDEN OF THE GOLDEN STATE 15 ANNEX DETENTION FACILITY, et al., (Docs. 1, 2.) 16 Respondents. 17 18 I. INTRODUCTION 19 Before the Court is Diego Antonio Mosqueda Sandoval’s request for a temporary 20 restraining order (Doc. 2), filed in conjunction with his petition for a writ of habeas corpus 21 brought under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 challenging his ongoing immigration detention. (Doc. 1.) For 22 the reasons set forth below, the Court DENIES the petition for writ of habeas corpus. 23 II. FACTUAL & PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND 24 This Court has summarized the factual and procedural history behind this action in a 25 previous order and incorporates that summary by reference here. (See Case No. 1:26-cv-01103- 26 JLT-SKO, Doc. 12.) On February 26, 2026, this Court issued a judgment granting Petitioner’s 27 petition for writ of habeas corpus and denying his request for a temporary restraining order as 28 moot. (Id.) In granting the petition, the Court ordered Respondents to provide Petitioner with an 1 individual bond hearing at which the Government bears the burden of proof by clear and 2 convincing evidence to show that Petitioner’s detention is warranted.1 (Id. at 3.) 3 On March 9, 2026, Petitioner was given a bond hearing before Immigration Judge Katie 4 G. Mullins who determined that the Government had met its burden to prove that Petitioner’s 5 continued detention was justified based on “significant flight risk concerns.” (See Digital Audio 6 Recording (“DAR”) at 25:10.) During the bond hearing, the Government presented evidence 7 showing, inter alia, that Petitioner incurred seventeen Intensive Supervision Appearance 8 Program (ISAP) violations, including a violation for tampering with his GPS monitoring device, 9 has no fixed address, has no employment history in the U.S., and has no family or dependents in 10 the U.S. (See DAR at 11:16 – 14:45.) 11 On April 14, 2026, Petitioner filed a second petition for habeas corpus, arguing that his 12 continued detention without an adequate bond hearing violates this Court’s prior habeas corpus 13 order and, necessarily, his Fifth Amendment due process rights. (See generally, Doc. 1.) 14 Petitioner now seeks an order granting, inter alia, his immediate release. (Id. at 29.) 15 III. LEGAL STANDARD 16 The Constitution guarantees that the writ of habeas corpus is “available to every 17 individual detained within the United States.” Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, 542 U.S. 507, 525 (2004) 18 (citing U.S. Const., Art I, § 9, cl. 2). Section 2241 of Title 28 confers the federal courts with the 19 power to issue writs of habeas corpus to persons “in custody in violation of the Constitution or 20 1 The relevant part of this Court’s February 26, 2026, order reads as follows: 21 Within 14 days of the date of service of this order, unless Petitioner 22 consents to a later date, Respondent SHALL provide Petitioner with an individualized bond hearing before an immigration judge that complies 23 with the requirements set forth in Singh v. Holder, 638 F.3d 1196 (9th Cir. 2011), and where “the government must prove by clear and convincing 24 evidence that [Petitioner] is a flight risk or a danger to the community to justify denial of bond,” id. at 1203. In the event Petitioner is “determined 25 not to be a danger to the community and not to be so great a flight risk as to require detention without bond,” the immigration judge should consider 26 Petitioner’s financial circumstances and alternative conditions of release. Hernandez v. Sessions, 872 F.3d 976, 1000 (9th Cir. 2017). If Respondents 27 fail to provide a timely bond hearing in accordance with this order, Respondents SHALL immediately release Petitioner. 28 1 laws or treaties of the United States.” 28 U.S.C. § 2241. This includes challenges by non-citizens 2 in immigration-related matters. See Zadvydas v. Davis, 533 U.S. 678, 687 (2001); see also A.A. 3 R. P. v. Trump, 145 S. Ct. 1364, 1367 (2025). 4 This Court has clear authority to ensure that the Government acts in accordance with its 5 orders granting relief in habeas actions. See Leonardo v. Crawford, 646 F.3d 1157, 1161 (9th 6 Cir. 2011) (“[T]he district court ha[s] authority to review compliance with its earlier order 7 conditionally granting habeas relief.”). In constitutional challenges to an IJ’s detention 8 determination, a habeas court generally reviews mixed questions of fact and law under an “abuse 9 of discretion” standard. Martinez v. Clark, 124 F.4th 775, 784 (9th Cir. 2024). “[A]buse of 10 discretion” review does not involve “reweigh[ing] evidence” but rather determining whether the 11 IJ “applied the correct legal standard.” Id. (citation and quotations omitted). In other words, “[i]n 12 reviewing the IJ's determination, a district court may not second guess the IJ's weighing of the 13 evidence... review is limited to whether the IJ's decision ‘reflects clear legal error or is 14 unsupported by sufficient evidence.’ ” Quan v. Barr, No. 20-cv-08118-LB, 2021 WL 308610 at 15 *4 (N.D. Cal. 2021) (quoting Hilario Pankim v. Barr, No. 20-CV-02941-JSC, 2020 WL 16 2542022, at *8 (N.D. Cal. May 19, 2020) (internal citation and quotation omitted)). The 17 reviewing court must bear in mind that “the government's discretion to incarcerate non-citizens 18 is always constrained by the requirements of due process.” Hernandez v. Sessions, 872 F.3d 976, 19 981 (9th Cir. 2017). 20 IV. DISCUSSION2 21 Petitioner argues that habeas relief is warranted because IJ improperly denied bond at his 22 2 This Court has previously waived the prudential exhaustion requirement in procedurally similar cases. 23 See C.A.R.V. v. Wofford, No. 1:25-CV-01395-JLT-SKO, 2026 WL 241823 at *5, n.7 (E.D. Cal. Jan. 29, 2026) (finding that petitioner satisfied irreparable injury Laing factor by “demonstrating the irreparable 24 harm that would result from wrongful detention, which may result given the lengthy time it takes to have an appeal decided.”); see also, Loba L.M. v. Andrews, No. 1:25-CV-00611-JLT-SAB, 2026 WL 710307 25 (E.D. Cal. Mar. 13, 2026) (holding that where a Petitioner seeks to enforce a prior habeas order in which an explicit finding of irreparable harm due to continued detention was made, such a previous finding 26 satisfies the second Laing factor for the purposes of the prudential exhaustion requirement); SEHAJVEER SINGH (A-No. 245-003-055), Petitioner, v. WARDEN OF GOLDEN STATE ANNEX FACILITY, et al., 27 Respondents, No. 1:26-CV-00172-JLT-EPG, 2026 WL 1328508 at *3 (E.D. Cal. May 13, 2026) (same). 28 The Court therefore adopts the reasoning of the above-mentioned cases and waives the prudential 1 March 9, 2026 bond hearing and abused her discretion by finding that the Government proved 2 by clear and convincing evidence that Petitioner was a flight risk. (Doc. 1 at 18-20.) In support, 3 Petitioner cites to (1) the IJ’s commentary at the outset of the bond hearing where she voiced her 4 disagreement with the application of the “clear and convincing” burden of proof but nevertheless 5 stated she would comply with this Court’s order, (2) the IJ’s failure to conduct an individualized 6 balancing test articulated in Matter of Guerra3, and (3) the IJ’s reliance on “unconstitutional” 7 Board of Immigration Appeals case law. (Id.) Having carefully considered and reviewed 8 Petitioner’s submissions and the digital audio recording of the March 9, 2026, bond hearing, the 9 Court finds that that Petitioner has not demonstrated that the IJ failed to comply with its prior 10 habeas order or otherwise abused her discretion. 11 The Ninth Circuit has explained that if an immigration court “expressly cited and applied 12 the relevant case law in rendering its decision,” the Court accepts that it “applied the correct 13 legal standard,” unless there is an indication that “something is amiss.” Martinez v. Clark, 124 14 F.4th 775, 785 (9th Cir. 2024) (cleaned up); See Mendez-Castro v. Mukasey, 552 F.3d 975, 980 15 (9th Cir. 2009). Furthermore, this Court has previously found that absent additional indications 16 of abuse of discretion, the mere presence of boilerplate language disagreeing with a district 17 court's application of legal principles is not singularly determinative as to whether the IJ failed to 18 apply the correct standard as mandated by prior district court order or failed to act as a neutral 19 arbitrator. See C.A.R.V. v. Wofford, No. 1:25-CV-01395-JLT-SKO, 2026 WL 241823 at *7 (E.D. 20 Cal. Jan. 29, 2026) (declining to infer noncompliance on the part of an IJ where there appears to 21 be a good faith effort to comply with this Court’s mandate); see also, J.H.R.G., Petitioner, v. 22 TONYA ANDREWS, et al., Respondents., No. 1:26-CV-01389-JLT-EPG, 2026 WL 1454005 at 23 *3 (E.D. Cal. May 22, 2026) (same). To be clear, this does not relieve the government of its 24 3 Guerra discusses nine factors relevant to the bond determination, namely: (1) whether the alien has a 25 fixed address in the United States; (2) the alien’s length of residence in the United States; (3) the alien’s family ties in the United States, and whether they may entitle the alien to reside permanently in the 26 United States in the future; (4) the alien’s employment history; (5) the alien's record of appearance in court; (6) the alien’s criminal record, including the extensiveness of criminal activity, the recency of such 27 activity, and the seriousness of the offenses; (7) the alien’s history of immigration violations; (8) any 28 attempts by the alien to flee prosecution or otherwise escape from authorities; and (9) the alien’s manner 1 | obligation to meet the clear and convincing burden, nor does it permit IJs to rely on talismanic 2 | language in lieu of proper analysis. 3 The IJ’s comments concerning the legal grounds for the application of the clear and 4 | convincing standard at the bond hearing does not nullify the fact that she expressly cited and 5 | applied the relevant case law in rendering its decision. Furthermore, Petitioner has not 6 | demonstrated that any aspect of the IJ's analysis or conduct was so “amiss” as to render such 7 | language talismanic. Martinez, 124 F.4th at 785. 8 As to the IJ’s flight risk assessment and the constitutionality of BIA case law, those are 9 | not questions for this Court. Complaints about application of BIA case law to Petitioner and IJ’s 10 | weighing of factors must be presented through the normal immigration appeal process. 11 Given that the Court finds that the IJ did not violate Petitioner’s due process rights, 12 || Petitioner has not demonstrated why habeas relief would be appropriate in this case. If 13 | Petitioner’s detention becomes unreasonably prolonged, Petitioner may raise a due process challenge at 14 | that time. See Lopez v. Garland, 631 F. Supp. 3d 870, 877-82 (E.D. Cal. 2022) (finding that petitioner’s 15 | one-year detention under § 1226(c) entitled him to a bond hearing). 16 V. CONCLUSION AND ORDER 17 1. Petitioner's Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus (Doc. 1) is DENIED. 18 2. Petitioner's Motion for Temporary Restraining Order (Doc. 2) is DENIED as 19 moot. 20 3. The Clerk of the Court is directed to CLOSE THE CASE. 21 IT IS SO ORDERED. 33 Dated: _ May 28, 2026 Charis [Tourn TED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 24 25 26 27 28 --- Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/11384933. Public record. Not legal advice.