Petitioner Melvin Bermudez Yanez is a Venezuelan citizen who has lived in the United States for over ten years. He has Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and timely filed for asylum. Nevertheless, in January 2026, DHS arrested and detained Mr. Bermudez Yanez during Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota. Plainclothes DHS officers ambushed him at his place of work, and in spite of his TPS and pending asylum application, they effectuated a violent arrest and detained him. While then-Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, “vacated” TPS protections for Venezuelans, the termination of TPS was illegal and the District Court of Northern California declared so in a final judgement. 

Mr. Bermudez Yanez is now detained at Torrance County Detention Facility in Estancia, New Mexico -- an immigration detention facility known for its unsafe and unlivable conditions. On March 25, 2026, Mr. Bermudez Yanez filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus challenging his detention in violation of the TPS statute and his due process rights.