Dueling habeas and 57 lbs. of meth

Junior de Jesus Herrera Berrios, aged just 18, is a popular man. We have not one but two separate habeas corpus petitions seeking his release from ICE custody.

First, some backstory. In 2022, Herrera, then-aged 15 and from Guatemala, crossed the U.S. border, apparently without any authorization.

Fast forward to 2026, on January 5, Herrera turned 18. Three days later, January 8, he was pulled over by Minnesota State Troopers while driving a Toyota Camry with two confederates (ages 18 and 22) through downtown Minneapolis. According to state court records, the trio had been under surveillance and had just completed a drug transaction.

The trooper conducted a traffic stop on Portland Avenue, nominally for the car’s dark-tinted windows. Of course, Mr. Herrera does not have a driver’s license, but he did produce a state ID card. Court records discuss a juvenile case of underage drinking and driving.

After more troopers arrived, eventually the Camry was searched, and the 57 pounds of meth were discovered. For his part, Herrera has been charged with felony first-degree drug possession.

On January 15, he was bailed out of Hennepin County jail on a $50,000 bond. In state court records, Herrera is billed out of Burnsville.

On February 10, Herrera appeared for a state court hearing at the Hennepin County government center (pictured above). For the scene after the hearing, we turn to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Federal agents make a chaotic arrest at downtown Minneapolis courthouse amid swarm of lawyers, observers

The Star Tribune reports,

At 11:45 a.m., a young man, later identified as Junior de Jesus Herrera Berrios, an 18-year-old from Burnsville, sprinted through the lobby with federal agents on his heels. He went around a large, shallow fountain in the center of the lobby. Two of the agents, who had been waiting in the lobby, closed off his path and slammed Herrera Berrios to the ground and pinned him against the marble base of the fountain.

The Star Tribune writes,

Herrera Berrios, who turned 18 in January, has no other criminal charges in Minnesota.

This statement is false, as it ignores Herrera’s juvenile record, including an underage drinking and driving case. From the original police complaint,

Last time I checked, drunk driving was criminal act in Minnesota.

Less than two hours after his arrest by ICE, Hennepin County filed for a writ of Habeas Corpus in state court for Herrera’s release from ICE custody, nominally so that Herrera would be able to attend his next court hearing, which is not scheduled until April 22.

Also within hours of Herrera’s ICE arrest, a private lawyer filed a habeas corpus petition in federal court. The petition was filed in secret and is not available for public viewing. That same day, without first hearing from the other side, Judge Donovan Frank (Clinton appointee) ordered that Herrera not be deported while he considered this case.

Frank issued a final order on February 12, which can be read here. The order is unusual for its length and detail: most of these habeas orders consist of a single line of text, noting the granting of the petition and the release of the alien.

In court documents, Judge Frank cites the following as facts in the case,

Petitioner [Herrera] is a citizen of Guatemala and resident of St. Paul, Minnesota. Petitioner has lived in the United States since 2022. Petitioner lives with his girlfriend and has strong ties to his community. He does not have a final order of removal. [Citations omitted.]

The judge’s sole source for the above facts is Herrera’s attorney. No mention is made of the 57 pounds of meth, unless that’s included within “strong ties to his community.”

The judge filed two pages of “analysis” to back up his order, citing some statutes and past cases. He does not grapple with the clear language of the applicable statute, “shall be detained.”

In another document, the judge prohibits the government from re-detaining Herrera. Has the judge just granted Herrera some form of common law permanent residency? Does the non-detainment language apply to state courts, where Herrera faces a mandatory minimum of more than five years in prison on the felony drug count? Elsewhere, Judge Frank’s order prohibits electronic monitoring of Herrera, which was explicitly ordered by the state court in the meth case.

Yesterday, the Star Tribune got around to reporting on Judge Frank’s ruling from last week.

After all of that, I am still unsure of where these dueling cases stand. Is Herrera now free and clear on the basis that it was teenage meth wheelmen who built America?

Meanwhile, we are now up to 941 habeas corpus cases filed in federal district court in Minnesota so far in calendar year 2026.

In other news, Minnesota Man Jose Luis Huerta-Gonzales, of Ecuador, entered a guilty plea today in federal court in downtown St. Paul.

Heurta has the distinction of being the very first person charged with illegal immigration in federal court in Minnesota in 2026 (Case No. 26-cr-1). He is a convicted felon and registered predatory sex offender (victim aged 14). He is likely to spend some time in federal prison prior to his re-deportation back to Ecuador.

If it all goes according to plan, let me be the first to say, “adios, Jose.”