Lal Legal PLC

05/27/2026

🚨🔥📖 THREE MONTHS. FOR A BOOK. ON FIRE. IN A PARK. 🏞️🔥📖🚨

Y'all. I just filed a habeas corpus petition for a client with schizophrenia who has been rotting in ICE detention for three months because he allegedly set a small book on fire at a park and covered for the minor who actually did it.

A book.

In Florida.

The state that is currently literally banning books from schools like they're contraband. 🚫📚

But apparently if you actually burn one—even a little one, in a park, while mentally ill, trying to cover for a kid (don't ask)—that's where they draw the line?? That's the hill?? That's the felony??

Florida: "We hate books so much we're removing them from classrooms."
Also Florida: "How DARE you physically harm that book, straight to jail, also ICE detention for a quarter of a year."

Make it make sense. I'll wait. 🍿

BUT WAIT. THERE'S MORE.

I filed the habeas petition TODAY.

And the federal judge already ordered ICE TO SHOW CAUSE by TOMORROW why they shouldn't release him.

05/27/2026

🚨 DON'T ACCEPT THE ANKLE MONITOR IF YOU DIDN'T HAVE ONE BEFORE! 🚨

So here's what happened:

Judge already granted a TRO and ordered our client released.

Then... they put an ankle monitor on him as a condition of release, when he did not have one before. 🦶⛓️

So guess what? We went RIGHT BACK to court and filed ANOTHER TRO.

AND WE WON. AGAIN.

The Court just ordered:
✅ GPS monitor OFF within 14 days
✅ No re-detention or new conditions unless an immigration judge says so after a REAL hearing
✅ They can't just add restrictions because they feel like it

The government tried to argue "well, the order didn't explicitly SAY no GPS" — and the Court wasn't having it. They held the line: GPS monitoring is a substantial restraint on liberty. You don't get to add that without due process.

Moral of the story: Just because a judge ordered you released doesn't mean they won't try to enroll you in a monitoring program. And just because they put something on you doesn't mean you have to accept it.

Fight back. File again. Don't stop.

Huge respect to Judge Dena M. Coggins 🙌

⚖️ Case No. 1:26-cv-01941-DC-DMC

05/22/2026

IMPORTANT: New USCIS Policy Memorandum on Adjustment of Status

USCIS has issued a new policy memorandum reminding adjudicating officers that adjustment of status (AOS)—the process of applying for a green card from within the United States—is an “extraordinary” form of relief and is granted as a matter of discretion. It is not something applicants are automatically entitled to, even if they meet the basic eligibility requirements.

Importantly, this memorandum does not change who is legally eligible to apply for adjustment of status. Instead, it affects how officers evaluate whether eligible applications should be approved. Certain categories of adjustment, such as refugee adjustment, are non-discretionary and are not impacted by this policy.

What does this mean in practice?

Under U.S. immigration law, there are generally two pathways to obtaining a green card:

Consular Processing: The applicant applies for an immigrant visa at a U.S. embassy or consulate abroad. USCIS continues to treat this as the standard and expected pathway.

Adjustment of Status (AOS): The applicant applies from within the United States without departing the country. Under INA § 245(a), this option is available to individuals who were lawfully inspected and admitted or paroled into the United States. However, AOS is discretionary, meaning USCIS may approve or deny the application even if all eligibility requirements are satisfied.

This new memorandum instructs officers to treat AOS as an exceptional benefit rather than a routine form of relief. Officers are directed to carefully weigh both positive and negative factors in each case. Notably, if an applicant could have pursued consular processing abroad but instead chose to remain in the United States and apply for adjustment, that decision may be treated as a negative factor. Applicants may need to overcome this by demonstrating strong positive equities, such as close family ties to U.S. citizens, meaningful community contributions, stable employment history, and overall compliance with immigration laws.

The memorandum also signals increased scrutiny for individuals who have violated the terms of their nonimmigrant status, including those who have overstayed a visa or engaged in unauthorized employment.

We are closely monitoring this development and will provide updates as additional guidance becomes available.

At this stage, it is too early to determine how this policy will affect individual case outcomes.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced a new policy memo reiterating the fact that, consistent with long-standing immigration law and immigration court decisions, aliens seeking adjustment of status must do so through consular processing via the Department of State outside of the....

05/12/2026

We sued USCIS over some nonsensical green card denials. They reopened the denied I-485s so fast.

04/14/2026

🚨 VICTORY IN COURT! 🚨

CLIENT IS COMING HOME! 🏠❤️

On April 13, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California GRANTED our Motion for Preliminary Injunction and ordered the IMMEDIATE RELEASE of our client 🎉⚖️

Here's what happened:
Client—a husband and father of three young daughters👨‍👩‍👧‍👧—lawfully entered the U.S. in 2019, applied for asylum, and lived openly with the government's FULL knowledge and consent for nearly SEVEN years. DHS even agreed to administratively close his removal proceedings and repeatedly granted him work authorization. 📝✅

Then on February 12, 2026—WITHOUT warning, WITHOUT notice, WITHOUT a hearing—ICE arrested him outside his home and threw him in detention. 😤🚔

The government offered NO justification. No changed circumstances. No danger. No flight risk. Nothing.

THE COURT SAID: ENOUGH. 🛑

Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald ruled that Client's detention likely violates procedural due process and ordered his immediate release—not just a bond hearing, but FULL release to the status quo before his unlawful arrest. The Court also ENJOINED the government from re-detaining him without notice and a pre-detention hearing before an immigration judge. 🔒❌

Key quotes from the Order:

"Petitioner has a vested liberty interest in remaining free from detention as he has lived for the last almost seven years."
"Delaying Petitioner's release awaiting a hearing that he should have received before he was detained would be unjust."

This is a HUGE win for due process and for the growing body of law in the Ninth Circuit holding that when the government lets someone build a life, it cannot sn**ch that freedom away without a fair hearing. 🙌⚖️

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73112726/amro-yousry-abdeltawab-v-cynthia-armant/

Docket for Amro Yousry Abdeltawab v. Cynthia Armant, 5:26-cv-01520 — Brought to you by Free Law Project, a non-profit dedicated to creating high quality open legal information.

03/24/2026

🎉 MAJOR WIN – AND IT CAME FROM A TRUMP JUDGE! 🎉

That’s right. Judge Scarsi—appointed by Donald Trump—just ordered ICE to immediately release our client and ruled that the government cannot re-detain him without a pre‑deprivation hearing before a neutral adjudicator. ⚖️🔥

Here’s what happened:

👉 Our client came to the U.S. at 13 years old as an unaccompanied child.
👉 He was granted Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) and deferred action in 2022.
👉 He built a life here, stayed out of trouble, and in 2025 an immigration judge terminated his removal proceedings. ✅

Then ICE arrested him at 6 AM and tried to reclassify him as an “arriving alien” to strip his bond rights. 😤

The government didn’t even file a response to our motion. And Judge Scarsi ruled against them across the board: due process violation, irreparable harm, balance of equities, public interest—all in our favor. 📝

This is proof that due process isn’t partisan. Even the most conservative judges can see when the government goes too far. 🇺🇸⚖️

On to the next fight! 💪✨

02/20/2026

🎉 Victory for Due Process & Freedom! ⚖️🕊️

Big news out of the Eastern District of California today! 💥 In P.F. v. Chestnut et al., Judge Dale A. Drozd ordered our client’s IMMEDIATE RELEASE from ICE custody — and issued a preliminary injunction preventing any future re-detention without notice and a hearing! 🙌

📜 The court held that when the government previously released our client back in 2020, that decision created a liberty interest the government couldn’t just revoke without due process. ICE re-arrested him during a check-in in November 2025 — no explanation, no hearing, nothing. Today, the court said: that’s unconstitutional. 🧑🏽‍⚖️

💭 Judge Drozd cited his earlier rulings in Ayala Cajina v. Wofford and Iskandar Wasef v. Chestnut, rejecting reliance on the recent Fifth Circuit case Buenrostro-Mendez v. Bondi. Instead, the court reaffirmed a key principle: once liberty is granted, the government can’t take it away arbitrarily.

💪 This is a major win for our client, for immigrant rights, and for the rule of law. It also adds to a growing line of cases in California recognizing limits on ICE’s re-detention power.

📂 Case: No. 1:26-cv-01315-DAD-JDP (E.D. Cal. Feb. 20, 2026)

.D.Cal

02/19/2026

⚖️ BREAKING: Federal Judge SLAMS Government for "Tyrannical" Defiance in Landmark Immigration Case ⚖️

In an absolutely stunning takedown, Judge Sunshine S. Sykes has GRANTED a motion to enforce judgment against the government for its "shameless" refusal to comply with court orders in the Maldonado Bautista v. Santacruz case .

The Trump administration officials (DHS, ICE, EOIR) have been systematically denying bond hearings to thousands of immigrants who entered without inspection—despite a federal court ORDERING them to stop . Their response? They kept doing it anyway, forcing over 550 habeas petitions in just six weeks

Judge Sykes had HAD ENOUGH.

She vacated the BIA's Yajure Hurtado decision that the government was hiding behind, calling it functionally identical to the already-vacated unlawful policy . She then ordered CLASSWIDE NOTICE so detained immigrants finally learn their rights .

But the most powerful part? Her words:

🗣️ "Respondents engage in unlawful practices under the guise of 'immigration enforcement'... Respondents proffer frivolous arguments that aim to insulate unlawful policies from judicial review while taking positions that seek to bludgeon separation of powers into oblivion."

🗣️ "Respondents can only do so in a world where the Constitution does not exist. The Constitution makes no apology in condemning Respondents."

🗣️ She quoted The Federalist No. 47 at the outset: "The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands... may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny."

🗣️ "Respondents are under extraordinary strain. No irony is lost on the Court. Respondents have chosen to avail themselves of these exact circumstances of which they now complain."

She also called out their legal maneuvering as a "deliberately dense three-step maneuver" leading to an "absurd conclusion"

Translation: The executive branch thinks it's above the law. Judge Sykes just reminded them it's not. 🇺🇸⚖️

02/18/2026

🚨 VICTORY ALERT! 🚨
They called my CLIENT a “DANGER.” 🐍 A “FLIGHT RISK.” ✈️💨 Threw every nasty label at him in IJ court like it was gospel. 🙄

But on Feb 4, 2026, the FEDERAL JUDGE dropped the mic: Give him a REAL bond hearing under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) in 7 DAYS. 📜⚖️ Ordered the AUSA to respond to the Order to Show Cause—or explain why a preliminary injunction SHOULDN’T issue. 💥

They half-assed a hearing where IJ echoed the smears… then AUSA? CRICKETS. 🦗 No response. 7 days? GONE. Client still caged like the court order was optional. 😡

Judge checks DHS locator TODAY—still detained?! ENOUGH. RELEASE FORTHWITH by 5 PM, confirm by 11:59 PM. 🔥🔥🔥

My CLIENT WALKS FREE—not because they’re nice, but cuz due process BITES BACK. 🦷🇺🇸 Smears don’t stop judges who enforce the law.

FREEDOM WINS! 🎉🥳 We keep FIGHTING louder! 💪✊

02/12/2026

🚨 Huge win to share today 🚨

A federal judge in the Eastern District of California just granted my client’s habeas petition and ordered her released from ICE detention 🙌🏽🕊️

My client is a survivor who followed all the rules, checked in, went to court, and was still suddenly thrown back into detention with no notice and no hearing. Today, the Court held that was a violation of her due process rights and enjoined ICE from re-arresting or re-detaining her without (1) seven days’ notice and (2) a real hearing in front of a neutral decisionmaker, with the government having to prove danger or flight risk by clear and convincing evidence 💪🏽⚖️

We’re also moving forward with a request for attorneys’ fees and costs under EAJA so the government—not this survivor—bears the financial cost of this unconstitutional detention 💸📑
​
So proud of my client’s courage, and so angry that she had to endure this at all. Grateful we were able to get her home to her family and set a precedent that ICE can’t secretly sn**ch people back into cages without basic constitutional protections.