US District Court MDFL Docket Feed

Popov v. Hardin - Habeas Granted, Immigration Detention Ruled Unlawful

The US District Court for the Middle District of Florida granted petitioner Kirill Vladimirovich Popov's habeas corpus petition and ordered his release. Popov, a Russian national who overstayed his 2007 visa and was ordered removed in 2014, was detained by ICE on September 27, 2025, and filed a motion to reopen his removal proceedings on November 17, 2025. Applying the Zadvydas framework, the Court held that continued detention becomes unreasonable when removal is not reasonably foreseeable, and that the government's attempt to execute a 2014 removal order in 2025, absent a reasonably foreseeable removal date, violated due process. The Court rejected the government's jurisdictional arguments under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(g) and the INA's zipper clause.

Habeas Corpus Petition Granted, Return to Middle District of Florida Ordered

The US District Court for the Middle District of Florida granted habeas corpus petitioner Gustavo Armando Adrian Sanchez's Emergency Notice of Transfer and Motion to Order Return, finding that ICE transferred him out of the court's jurisdiction approximately 26 minutes before a Temporary Restraining Order was entered. The court ordered respondents to immediately return Sanchez to the Middle District of Florida, Orlando Division, or alternatively release him pending a bond hearing under 8 U.S.C. § 1226. The court warned that future attempts to frustrate habeas proceedings by rushing to move a petitioner before a TRO is entered will result in contempt proceedings.