DHS calls Judge Coggins a Biden-appointed activist judge and defends detaining people at airports

Where this statement fits

Judge orders ICE to release a UC Berkeley student arrested at SFO; DHS says she overstayed her visa and calls the judge an activist

On October 30, 2026, ICE agents arrested Paula Albornoz Hernandez, a 23-year-old UC Berkeley business administration student from Colombia, at San Francisco International Airport as she waited to board a flight to Portland, Oregon. She has a pending asylum application and a work permit. DHS says she overstayed a visa that expired in March 2023 and that neither her work authorization nor her asylum application gives her legal status. ICE held her at its California City detention facility in Kern County. Her lawyers filed a habeas petition on November 2. On November 6, U.S. District Judge Dena Coggins of the Eastern District of California granted it, holding that due process required ICE to give her notice and a hearing before a neutral arbiter, at which bond must be considered, before detaining her. The order, entered November 9, required her immediate release under her prior conditions, with no electronic monitoring, and the return of her passport and other documents. She was released that day. DHS called Coggins a Biden-appointed activist judge and said it complies with all lawful court orders. Berkeley Mayor Adena Ishii had called on ICE to release her so she could return to her studies.