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An immigrant who has lived in the United States for more than 35 years, but who is now a detainee of the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Clearfield County, has fled a federal petition seeking his release.
Cesar Julio Soto Zapata, a native of Colombia, indicated in his petition that he arrived in the United States in May 1991.
His petition, filed on Tuesday in the federal District Court in Johnstown, stated that during his lengthy stay in America, he "has never been arrested, has deep ties to the community and has always taken care of his family."
Attorney Rizwan M. Khalid of Philadelphia is representing Zapata in his attempt to regain his freedom.
Khalid, however, was unable to provide information as to Zapata's background or the circumstances of his arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The petition indicated that Zapata has a son who is an American citizen.
When Zapata is released from ICE custody at Moshannon Valley, his son will file an immigrant petition for his father, the filing stated.
Khalid, who prepared the petition, argues that in September 2025, the Board of Immigration Appeals "reinterpreted" a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act that enabled ICE to assert that "all individuals who entered (the United States) without inspection should be considered (as individuals seeking admission) and therefore subject to mandatory detention."
They are not subject to a bond hearing, the petition claims, as was the case prior to September 2025.
The defendants in the Zapara case include ICE officials, the Department of Homeland Security and the Attorney General.
"Defendants' new legal interpretation is plainly contrary to the statutory framework and its implementing regulations. ... Defendants' new policies (denying a bond hearing) are thus not only contrary to law, but are arbitrary and capricious in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act," Khalid continues to argue.
The petition claims Zapata is illegally being denied a bond hearing and that he is being unlawfully detained.
His ongoing detention also violates Zapata's Fifth Amendment right to due process, it is claimed.
The petition asks the judge in the case to declare Zapata's ongoing detention as unlawful and that a writ of Habeas Corpus be issued, ordering his release within days.
The Zapata petition has been assigned to District Judge Arthur J. Schwab, who presides in Pittsburgh.
Schwab on Wednesday ordered the defendants to respond within 14 days upon receiving the petition.