U.S. Judge Orders Release of Nigerian Immigrant Detained by DHS Since September
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A United States District Court has ordered the release of a Nigerian immigrant who had been held in federal custody since September 2025, ruling that immigration authorities failed to follow their own procedures. The decision was delivered by Robert Huie, a judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.
The case centers on Adeyemi Olufowora, who entered the United States in 2013 through the El Paso port of entry in Texas without official travel documentation. Upon arrival, he was taken into custody by immigration officials and placed in removal proceedings.
An immigration judge later approved his deportation, and the order was not appealed. However, efforts to return him to Nigeria stalled after authorities were unable to secure the necessary travel documents. Under federal law, immigration authorities are generally required to carry out deportation within a 90-day removal window.
After spending about six months in detention in 2013 without progress on his removal, Mr. Olufowora was released under an order of supervision. He complied with the terms of that supervised release for more than a decade without incident.
In September 2025, immigration officials moved to enforce the long-standing removal order and detained him again. Mr. Olufowora challenged the action in court, arguing that officials revoked his supervised release without providing prior written notice or an opportunity to respond, as required by regulation.
During court proceedings, the Department of Homeland Security acknowledged that written notice explaining the reasons for revoking his release had not been provided. However, government lawyers maintained that the oversight did not amount to a violation serious enough to invalidate the detention.
In his ruling, Judge Huie emphasized that federal agencies are obligated to adhere strictly to their own regulations. He ordered the Department of Homeland Security to release Mr. Olufowora within one business day, subject to the same supervision terms that had governed his status prior to his re-arrest.
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