| Blind Man From Ecuador
Released by ICE on Eve of Hearing
To Pick Cash Back Next Dec 17
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
SDNY
COURTHOUSE,
Nov 24 – A blind man from
Ecuador who entered the US
through Texas and was released
upon request under the Biden
Administration in January 2023
was detained in 26 Federal
Plaza on November 4.
His sister filed
a habeas corpus petition on
his behalf.
It will be heard
on November 7 in U.S. District
Court for the Southern
District of New York, which
Inner City Press closely
covers.
His filing
cites a decision by SDNY Judge
George B. Daniels in Valdez v.
Joyce, 25-cv-4627, 2025 WL
1707737 (June 18, 2005) that
detentions such as his are
"clear violation[s] of due
process rights."
On November 6 the
US Attorney's Office wrote in
that the petitioner is being
held in 26 Federal Plaze
pending arrangements for his
transfer to the Orange County
Jail in Goshen, NY (the only
ICE detention facility within
the SDNY).
On November 7 the
AUSA asked Judge Carter to
allow ICE to move father and
his son together to a facility
outside of SDNY, saying the
Orange County jail could not
take both.
Judge Carter said
he would not take substantive
action until the father has a
lawyers, and an interpreter.
An interpreter was arraigned
but then the son, not the
father, was produced. So,
weekend in 26 Fed. Thread.
On Monday
November 10 Inner City Press
live tweeted again, here
On November 12,
Judge Carter ordered: "The
Government is ORDERED to keep
the Court apprised of Mr.
Chalco's condition, access to
accommodations for his
disability (including but not
limited to his cane and a text
to audio device for reading),
and access to the telephone.
The Government is ORDERED to
update the Court about general
conditions and safety at
Orange County Jail in Goshen,
NY as well as a potential
transfer to Delaney Hall
Detention Facility in Newark,
NJ, where Mr. Chalco's son is
detained.
On November 14
petitioner(s) request that he
be released immediately,
attaching a declaration that
"I am in isolation in a
cell... I feel like I am going
crazy." The TRO was denied,
but more status reports
required.
Late on November
17 the US Attorney's Office
wrote in that "ICE released
the petitioner from detention
this evening," and implied the
habeas petition is now moot.
On
November 18, Judge Carter
canceled the hearing and asked
for a letter if the case is
moot: "The November 18, 2025
conference is cancelled. The
Parties are ordered to file a
joint letter by November 20,
2025 addressing whether the
petition is moot."
On November 24
Judge Carter ordered that
"Respondents shall promptly
return to Petitioner any of
his personal items or property
still in their custody,
including but not limited to
Petitioner’s employment
authorization document and the
$755.00 that was in his
possession at the time of his
arrest on November 4, 2025.
Petitioner states that the
matter is not moot given
Respondents’ lack of a promise
to not re-detain him.
Petitioner has an upcoming
check-in at 26 Federal Plaza
on December 17, 2025. See
Petitioner’s Exhibit B. Given
this, the Court ORDERS full
briefing of the mootness
issue."
Inner City
Press will remain on the case.
More on X for
Subscribers here
and Substack here
The case is
Chalco-Beltran v. Francis, et
al., 1:25-cv-9205 (Carter)
***
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