Diógene Fermín Fernández v. Rebecca González et al.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico granted a habeas corpus petition filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Puerto Rico and ordered the federal government not to transfer Diogene Fermin Fernández, a Dominican immigrant detained by federal agents, outside Puerto Rico.

In its order, Judge Pedro A. Delgado Hernández also set a deadline for the government to provide a bond hearing, warning that “if respondents do not provide such a hearing within that time, they must immediately release petitioner.” Diogene Fermín Fernández has lived in Puerto Rico since 2007 and was stopped by federal agents on January 20, 2026, while on his way to work in Villa Palmeras, an area in San Juan with a large Dominican community.

According to the petition filed in court, the arrest took place under circumstances raising serious concerns of racial profiling and ended with his transfer to western Puerto Rico, where he remained in federal custody while facing the threat of being removed from the jurisdiction within hours or days.