MIAMI — A prominent Haitian businessman who has been in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody for nearly a year is entitled to a bond hearing, a federal judge in Miami has ruled.

U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles, ruling on a habeas corpus petition filed by Dimitri Vorbe, said the federal government cannot continue to hold him in mandatory immigration detention simply because Secretary of State Marco Rubio determined his presence could have serious adverse consequences on U.S. foreign policy.

While stopping short of ordering Vorbe’s immediate release or overturning Rubio’s foreign policy determination, Gayles ordered immigration authorities to provide Vorbe with a bond hearing by Aug. 24, or release him under reasonable conditions of supervision. Vorbe’s lawyers wanted Gayles to hold the bond hearing himself, which the judge did not agree to. Instead, the hearing has to take place in immigration court.

“On or before August 31, 2026, Respondents shall file a Status Report informing this Court of whether Petitioner was given an individualized bond hearing, the outcome of Petitioner’s bond hearing, and the status of matters relevant to the Petition,” Gayles ordered.

Vorbe was detained at his South Miami home on Sept. 23, 2025, and charged with being removable from the U.S. under a rarely used foreign policy provision involving foreign-policy concerns. In an undated memorandum, Secretary of State Marco Rubio asserted that Vorbe had “engaged in a campaign of violence and gang support that contributed to Haiti’s destabilization,” and argued that his presence acted against the foreign policy interests of the United States.

Rubio has provided no evidence to back up his claim, prompting questions about why Vorbe — who had been in contact with the U.S. Embassy and other former diplomats about his ordeals in Haiti under the administration of President Jovenel Moïse and had his Haitian passport confiscated by U.S. officials after he arrived in Miami in early 2020 on a valid U.S. visa — was suddenly targeted.

In its court filing, the Trump administration argued that Vorbe could be held without bond under federal immigration regulations. It also argued that the court lacks jurisdiction to consider his challenge, a position Gayles rejected.

The judge ruled that federal law specifies which immigrants are subject to mandatory detention, and said categories like Vorbe’s — those charged under foreign policy concerns — are not among them. He found that Congress deliberately excluded that category and a federal immigration regulation used by the Department of Homeland Security to impose mandatory detention went beyond congressional authority, the judge said.

Although Vorbe was already before an immigration court at the time of his controversial arrest, he is among thousands of detainees now stranded in South Florida due to the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrants since last year. The record number of immigration-related habeas corpus cases, leading to a massive backlog, far surpasses the typical number of a few dozen per year in South Florida under prior presidents. Habeas corpus cases are those in which people in custody challenge their detention or imprisonment in federal court.

Vorbe’s case is one of the most prominent examples of Rubio’s use of his foreign policy authority, which administration officials have invoked in a handful of cases. In another case, Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate student and pro-Palestinian activist married to a U.S. citizen, faces an immigration judge’s removal order, but his deportation has been put on hold as he appeals his case to the U.S. Supreme Court. In the meantime, he has been released from immigration custody.

Vorbe, a confidante of late Haitian President Rene Preval who had become a major player in Haitian politics, ran one of Haiti’s biggest electrical utilities until a clash with Moïse made him a target of Haitian and U.S. authorities. Moïse’s administration later accused him of corruption and financial crimes, accusations Vorbe denied and which were later dismissed in Haiti.

Vorbe was initially detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement after being accused of overstaying his visa. He later obtained Temporary Protected Status, and ICE again arrested him a second time. He has remained in detention ever since, though no immigration judge has ordered his removal from the United States.

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