Overview
- U.S. District Judge David G. Estudillo ordered Muhammad Zahid Chaudhry released on Dec. 22 following a habeas hearing in Tacoma.
- A government attorney acknowledged citing the wrong statute and apologized in court, while the U.S. Attorney’s Office and DHS said they still believe the detention was lawful.
- Chaudhry, a Pakistan-born green card holder and U.S. military veteran, was taken into custody on Aug. 21 during a citizenship interview at the USCIS office in Tukwila.
- He remains free as his naturalization bid and related appeals proceed, with a decision anticipated in about a month.
- CAIR-WA praised the ruling, and Chaudhry’s family says his three-month detention separated him from his wife and young children and exacerbated a medical condition.