Judge Denies Immigrant Mother’s Bid for Release From ICE Detention in New Jersey Case

Newark, NJ — A federal judge denied a detained immigrant mother’s request for release from ICE custody, ruling she failed to show her detention violates federal law despite arguments that her arrest and pending immigration relief should protect her from removal. U.S. District Judge Brian R. Martinotti rejected the habeas corpus petition filed by Rose Elvira Rodriguez Moreno, an El Salvador native who has lived in the United States for more than two decades and is the mother of three U.S. citizen children. The decision leaves her in custody for now but allows her to try again later, as the petition was denied “without prejudice.” Rodriguez Moreno challenged her February 2026 arrest by immigration authorities, arguing it violated constitutional protections and federal immigration law. Long immigration history shapes ruling Rodriguez Moreno entered the U.S. without inspection in 2004 and was ordered removed in absentia by an immigration judge in 2005 after failing to appear for proceedings. She remained in the country, later marrying a U.S. citizen in 2018 and raising three children born in the United States. In 2020, she sought legal status under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which allows certain abused spouses of U.S. citizens to self-petition