Judge Orders ICE to Immediately Free UC Berkeley Student Paula Albornoz Hernandez

A federal judge has ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to immediately release Paula Valentina Albornoz Hernandez, a 23-year-old University of California, Berkeley student, ruling that the agency violated her due process rights when it detained her at San Francisco International Airport without first giving her a chance to challenge the detention. The UC Berkeley student ICE release order, issued Monday, November 9, 2026, by U.S. District Judge Dena Coggins, ends more than a week in custody for the Colombian asylum seeker, arrested on October 30 before a flight to Oregon.

Key Points

• U.S. District Judge Dena Coggins ordered the immediate release of Paula Valentina Albornoz Hernandez, 23, a UC Berkeley business administration student in the Haas Class of 2028, ruling ICE violated her due process rights.
• ICE arrested Albornoz Hernandez on October 30 at San Francisco International Airport as she waited to board a flight to Oregon, and held her for more than a week at the California City Detention Center in the Mojave Desert.
• Coggins granted her habeas corpus petition and a temporary restraining order, ordered her belongings returned, and barred ICE from requiring an electronic monitor unless it proves necessity at a future hearing.
• ICE must give seven days’ notice and hold a bond hearing before detaining her again, and must notify the court within three days confirming her release.
• Her deportation and asylum case continue in immigration court; the ruling decides only the legality of her detention.

What Happened

Albornoz Hernandez was taken into custody at San Francisco International Airport on October 30, 2026, as she prepared to board a domestic flight to Oregon for a vacation with her boyfriend. She was transferred to ICE’s California City Detention Center in the Mojave Desert, where she was held for more than a week.

Her lawyers at the Oakland-based nonprofit Centro Legal de la Raza filed a habeas corpus petition challenging the detention. On Monday, November 9, Judge Coggins sided with them, granting the petition and a temporary restraining order. She was released on Monday, according to her attorney, Nikolas De Bremaeker, and UC Berkeley Chancellor Rich Lyons announced the ruling the same day in a message to the campus.

Background

Albornoz Hernandez entered the United States from Colombia on a valid visa in September 2022. She has a pending asylum application and a current work permit, her lawyers say. Her attorney told The Daily Californian that she sought asylum after facing gender-based violence in Colombia. She transferred to UC Berkeley from San Jose City College this year to study business administration at the Haas School of Business.

The Department of Homeland Security says she was allowed to stay until March 2023 and did not leave, making her deportable for overstaying her visa. That was not what the judge’s order turned on. Coggins focused on procedure: whether the government could detain her at a travel gate, years after her visa expired, without first telling her she faced detention and giving her a hearing before a neutral decision-maker. Her detention drew a swift response on campus, where about 300 students demonstrated on November 4.

Judge Orders ICE to Free UC Berkeley Student: What the Ruling Says

Judge Coggins wrote that “due process forbids the government from detaining the noncitizen unless they are first provided with adequate notice and a pre-deprivation hearing before a neutral arbiter.” The ruling found that ICE had detained Albornoz Hernandez without that notice or hearing, and that the violation required her immediate release.

Coggins also ruled that noncitizens who overstay a visa and are “not detained within a reasonable time” after their visas expire gain a protected liberty interest, meaning agencies must first notify them before detaining them. That reasoning could shape how the government handles other long-settled visa overstays. The judge’s conditions were specific: no electronic monitor unless ICE proves necessity at a future hearing, and any re-detention requires seven days’ notice and a bond hearing.

Reactions

Her habeas attorney, Nikolas De Bremaeker of Centro Legal de la Raza, told KQED that she was released Monday and said the ruling does not resolve her immigration case. Lizzie Fulton, who represents her in the immigration proceedings, said her deportation case and asylum application will continue through immigration court. Students who had protested welcomed the release while noting her case is far from over. The Department of Homeland Security has not said whether it will appeal; its position remains that she overstayed her visa in 2023 and is therefore deportable, a question the order expressly did not decide.

Why It Matters

The ruling is one of the clearest judicial rebukes yet of the administration’s detention practices in the current enforcement surge. It does not say the government can never detain a visa overstayer. It says the government cannot do it by surprise, years later, at an airport, without notice and a hearing first. That distinction — between the power to detain and the procedure required before detaining — is the heart of the case. It also matters for thousands in similar positions: noncitizens with pending asylum applications and work permits who entered legally and later fell out of status. If the reasoning holds on appeal, the government must give such people notice and a hearing before detaining them.

What Happens Next

Albornoz Hernandez is free while her immigration case proceeds. Her asylum application and deportation proceedings will move through immigration court, where a judge — not the federal district court — will decide whether she can remain in the United States. That process can take months or longer. ICE has three days from the order to confirm her release to the court. If the agency seeks to detain her again, it must give seven days’ notice and hold a bond hearing, and justify any electronic monitoring at a future hearing. The government may also appeal to the Ninth Circuit.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Paula Valentina Albornoz Hernandez?
A 23-year-old Colombian asylum seeker and UC Berkeley business administration student in the Haas Class of 2028, with a pending asylum application and a current work permit.

Why was she detained by ICE?
ICE arrested her on October 30 at San Francisco International Airport as she waited to board a flight to Oregon. The Department of Homeland Security says she overstayed her visa, which allowed her to stay until March 2023.

What did the judge rule?
U.S. District Judge Dena Coggins ruled on November 9 that ICE violated her due process rights by detaining her without adequate notice and a pre-deprivation hearing before a neutral arbiter, and ordered her immediate release.

Is her immigration case over?
No. Her deportation proceedings and asylum application continue in immigration court. The ruling decides only that her detention was unlawful, not whether she can remain in the United States.

Can ICE detain her again?
Only with seven days’ notice and a bond hearing first. ICE also cannot require her to wear an electronic monitor unless it proves at a future hearing that monitoring is necessary.

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