U.S. Court Orders ICE to Release Nigerian Immigrant Michael Egbele Over “Unlawful” Detention
A federal court in Minnesota has directed the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to release Michael Opeoluwa Egbele, a Nigerian national who entered the United States in 2003 and was later arrested on a drug-related charge in 2012.
Court documents obtained by PulseNets show that Senior U.S. District Judge John M. Gerrard ordered immigration authorities to free Mr Egbele on or before February 20, 2026, and submit a formal status report confirming compliance. The judge ruled that ICE had no lawful basis to continue holding him, citing the unusual legal history surrounding his case.
PulseNets learnt that Mr Egbele’s immigration challenges began in 2012 following his arrest on a drug offence, after which federal prosecutors initiated deportation proceedings. During the process, he applied for asylum and requested that the court withhold his removal from the United States.
An immigration judge denied the asylum application in July 2012 and issued a final removal order. However, ICE did not execute the deportation, and Mr Egbele did not file an appeal against the ruling.
Instead, he entered into an agreement with U.S. authorities and was released “on supervision” in December 2012. Under the terms of that arrangement, he was mandated to attend periodic check-ins with immigration officials.
For over a decade, the supervision order remained in effect without incident. That changed in January 2026, when ICE officers detained him during a routine compliance appointment.
In his petition before the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, Mr Egbele argued that he had not been “notified of any purported revocation of his [order of supervision] or of an interview,” and that ICE “did not provide any explanation for the purported revocation of (his order of supervision).”
ICE, in response, maintained that the supervision order had been withdrawn in part due to an alleged “failure to obtain or attempt to obtain a travel document to Nigeria, as required.”
Following his detention, PulseNets reported that Mr Egbele was unable to immediately contact either his wife or his legal counsel. It was only around February 13 that immigration officials permitted him to make a short telephone call.
He informed his wife, a U.S. citizen, that he had been taken into custody and was being transferred out of Minnesota. He was not told his destination. For several days, neither his wife nor his lawyer could determine his whereabouts, as ICE did not disclose his location.
Mrs Egbele later learnt from a fellow detainee that her husband had been held at a facility in Montana before being moved again. She eventually discovered that he had been transferred to another ICE detention centre in New Mexico.
The administration of Donald Trump insisted that the detention was lawful and further argued that the Minnesota district court lacked jurisdiction, given that Mr Egbele was being held in New Mexico at the time of the proceedings.
Judge Gerrard rejected the government’s position, describing it as unpersuasive, particularly in light of ICE’s failure to enforce the removal order since 2012 when it became final.
The court held that immigration authorities could not abruptly terminate a long-standing supervisory arrangement to enforce a 15-year-old deportation order without establishing any violation of its conditions.
The judge emphasised that Mr Egbele’s release under an order of supervision entitled him to due process protections, including adequate notice of any revocation before detention could lawfully occur.
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“Nothing in the brief even attempts to identify any change in circumstances that would warrant detention,” the judge stated.
Consequently, the court declared the detention unlawful.
“The government shall immediately release the petitioner from custody subject to and in accordance with the conditions in his preexisting Order of Supervision,” the judge ruled on February 18. “No later than February 20, 2026, the government shall file a status report certifying compliance with this order.”
