Transgender asylum seeker detained by ICE outside Portland courtroom files habeas corpus petition
A federal judge asked that ICE detail the exact date and time the 24-year-old was detained and removed, and for a reason why such a move was “immediately necessary.”
Author: Amy-Xiaoshi DePaola
Published: 6:51 PM PDT June 3, 2025
PORTLAND, Oregon — A federal judge from Oregon has demanded an explanation as to why an asylum seeker from Mexico was detained by ICE agents, hours after leaving a Portland courtroom Monday, according to court documents.
U.S. District Judge Amy Baggio’s order stipulates that the asylum seeker must not be taken out of Oregon without advance notice — and if she has been taken out of the state already, then ICE must notify the court within two hours of being served with the court order.
The asylum seeker arrested in Portland, a 24-year-old transgender woman from Mexico, is represented by attorneys at Innovation Law Lab. The group said that their client, referred to by the pseudonym “O-J-M,” fled Mexico in September 2023 after suffering violence from a cartel due to her gender identity and sexual orientation.
O-J-M attended an asylum hearing in Portland on Monday where, according to her attorneys, ICE lawyers sought to dismiss her case. When she left the courtroom, ICE agents arrested her.
That same day, O-J-M’s attorneys filed a petition for habeas corpus in federal court, seeking an answer from ICE and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on why her asylum petition should not be granted, saying that Monday’s detainment violated the Fifth Amendment’s due process clause. They also asked for her release from custody.
Judge Baggio’s order demands that ICE detail the exact date and time O-J-M was detained and removed, as well as state why such a move was “immediately necessary.” The judge asked that O-J-M not be transported from the detention facility and that she be brought back for a hearing in Oregon, saying that the Oregon federal court has jurisdiction.
According to court documents, O-J-M had been removed from Oregon at around 3 p.m. Monday. The petition asked that DHS and ICE must notify the Oregon’s federal court on whether she has been removed.
DHS and ICE must respond to the petition by Thursday at noon, according to the order.
This appears to be the first known ICE courthouse arrest in Portland amid a nationwide wave of such arrests that have been widely reported by outlets like CNN, USA Today and The Seattle Times.
Across the country, ICE under the Trump administration has launched a broad crackdown on immigration, terminating prior guidelines for acceptable arrest locations and catching up asylum seekers, foreign students, lawful permanent residents and undocumented workers in the dragnet.