ACLU of Puerto Rico files lawsuit to demand Albeto Pierre’s release and halt his transfer out of Puerto Rico

San Juan, P.R. – The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Puerto Rico on Tuesday filed an emergency habeas corpus petition before the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, on behalf of Albeto Pierre, a Haitian immigrant detained by federal agents on Christmas Eve in Barrio Obrero, Santurce, while accompanying his partner to a prenatal appointment.

The legal action challenges the detention as arbitrary and lacking a legal basis, and asks the court to order his immediate release, as well as an order preventing his imminent transfer outside the jurisdiction of Puerto Rico.

“Detaining Albeto Pierre on Christmas Eve, while he was accompanying his pregnant partner to a medical appointment, is a cruel and unjustified act that violates due process and the right to family integrity,” said Fermín Arraiza Navas, legal director of the ACLU of Puerto Rico. “We ask the court to intervene immediately to stop his transfer and order his release, because every hour counts when the government insists on separating families without a legal basis,” he underscored.

Pierre—who has lived in Puerto Rico since 2022—is the father of a one-year-old U.S. citizen child and the domestic partner of a Dominican woman who is a lawful permanent resident and is pregnant with their second child. Despite the fact that he is not a flight risk or a danger to the community, and that he has no criminal record, Pierre was arrested on December 24, 2025, near the Health Pro-Med clinic on Avenida Borinquen.

“Pierre is not a number or a case file—he is a father, a worker, and a member of the community whose family depends on him, especially during a high-risk pregnancy like his partner’s. Policies of detention and accelerated transfer punish families and weaken basic constitutional guarantees that apply to everyone,” said Annette Martínez Orabona, executive director of the ACLU of Puerto Rico.

The organization warned that Pierre faces transfer to another jurisdiction within hours or days, which would further harm his family unity, his access to legal representation, and his due process rights. Federal law sets out specific circumstances for mandatory detention, none of which apply to Pierre. In addition, Pierre had applied for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and employment authorization, and less restrictive alternatives to detention exist.

When transferred, detained people face harms that are difficult to reverse, including changes in the applicable legal framework, greater difficulty gathering evidence such as statements from community members, barriers to communicating with legal counsel, and obstacles to maintaining contact with family. Immigrants detained in Puerto Rico are effectively disappeared, and there is no certainty as to the detention facility and jurisdiction where the person will be held.

In addition, the ACLU has denounced inhumane detention conditions at various facilities, including sanitation deficiencies and lack of essential services—conditions that threaten the physical integrity and health of detained immigrants. The ACLU of Puerto Rico reiterated that access to due process and legal representation cannot depend on the place of detention or on administrative decisions that remove people from their community and support networks.