NEWARK, NJ – A federal judge has granted a habeas corpus petition filed by a Russian couple who remained in immigration detention for months after being granted asylum, ordering the Department of Homeland Security to provide individualized bond hearings within seven days.
U.S. District Judge Robert Kirsch issued the ruling on January 21, directing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to review the detention of Evgeny and Evgeniia Mashchenko, a married couple from Russia who crossed into the United States from Mexico in April 2025 with their 8-year-old son. The family was apprehended at the border, separated, and detained while seeking asylum under the Convention Against Torture.
Court records show the couple was held at the Elizabeth Contract Detention Facility and Delaney Hall in Newark for more than eight months, while their son was placed in foster care by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement. Despite being granted asylum by an immigration judge on January 9, 2026, the pair remained in ICE custody because the Department of Homeland Security retained 30 days to file an appeal with the Board of Immigration Appeals.
The Mashchenkos filed their habeas petition in June 2025, initially representing themselves, arguing that their prolonged detention and family separation violated due process. Attorneys later joined the case, asserting that the couple’s continued detention after the asylum grant lacked justification and was causing unnecessary hardship.
Judge Kirsch agreed, finding that extended detention without an individualized assessment of flight risk or danger to the community violated constitutional protections. The court ordered ICE to conduct bond hearings to determine whether the couple could be released while DHS decides whether to appeal their asylum grant.
The ruling highlights growing judicial scrutiny over prolonged immigration detentions, particularly for asylum seekers who have already received favorable rulings but remain confined pending administrative review.
- Federal judge grants habeas relief to Russian asylum-seeking couple held in ICE custody
- Evgeny and Evgeniia Mashchenko ordered to receive bond hearings within seven days
- Couple detained since April 2025 despite being granted asylum earlier this month
