Paula Valentina Albornoz Hernandez, a 23-year-old business administration student from Colombia, was taken into custody on Oct. 30 as she prepared to board a flight to Oregon with her boyfriend. She had been held at the California City Detention Facility in the Mojave Desert for 10 days.

U.S. District Judge Dena Coggins ruled Monday that ICE violated Hernandez's constitutional right to due process by detaining her without prior notice or a hearing, and ordered her immediate release. Coggins also barred ICE from imposing electronic monitoring without first demonstrating to the court why it would be necessary.

Hernandez came to the United States in September 2022 and applied for asylum to escape severe gender-based violence in Colombia, according to her attorney, Nikolas De Bremaeker. He said she has a pending asylum application and valid work authorization.

The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the arrest, stating that Hernandez's legal permission to remain in the country expired in March 2023. The agency maintained that neither a pending asylum application nor work authorization confers legal immigration status.

"No student, and no person, should be held in that facility," De Bremaeker said in an email. "Federal judges have overwhelmingly found arrests like Paula's unlawful, yet ICE keeps making them. They need to stop, and Congress needs to investigate DHS's pattern of violating the Constitution."

In a statement, DHS said it complies with all lawful court orders and that Hernandez "will continue to receive due process." The agency also defended its enforcement policies, asserting that "being in detention is a choice" and encouraging immigrants without legal status to voluntarily leave the country through a self-deportation program.

UC Berkeley Chancellor Richard Lyons and three other university officials celebrated the ruling in a campuswide message Monday, thanking Hernandez's legal team, elected officials and members of the university community who advocated for her release.

"We're relieved and overjoyed," the officials wrote. "Today, we celebrate this news and look forward to welcoming Paula back to our campus community."

The university said it would continue supporting Hernandez and her family as she returns to her studies.

The case has drawn attention to the Trump administration's immigration enforcement tactics, particularly the arrest of a student with a pending asylum claim and work authorization. De Bremaeker's call for a congressional investigation into DHS's practices underscores growing concerns among immigrant advocates and legal experts about the agency's adherence to constitutional protections.

Hernandez's release comes amid a broader pattern of federal judges ruling against similar ICE arrests, raising questions about the agency's compliance with due process requirements. For the UC Berkeley community, the outcome represents a relief but also a reminder of the vulnerabilities faced by immigrant students navigating the complex U.S. immigration system.