Judge orders bond hearing for Haitian businessman Dimitri Vorbe after nearly a year in ICE custody

A federal judge has ruled that Haitian businessman Dimitri Vorbe, held in immigration custody for nearly a year, is entitled to a bond hearing, reported Miami Herald.

U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles ruled on Vorbe’s habeas corpus petition that the federal government cannot keep him in mandatory detention simply because Secretary of State Marco Rubio determined his presence could carry serious adverse consequences for U.S. foreign policy.

Gayles ordered immigration authorities to give Vorbe a bond hearing by August 24, or release him under reasonable conditions of supervision. He declined a request from Vorbe’s lawyers to hold the bond hearing himself, ruling that it must take place in immigration court instead. The government must report back to Gayles by August 31 on whether the hearing was held and its outcome.

Vorbe was detained at his South Miami home on September 23, 2025, and charged with being removable from the U.S. under a rarely used foreign policy provision. In an undated memo, Rubio alleged that Vorbe had engaged in a campaign of violence and gang support that contributed to Haiti’s destabilization, arguing his presence worked against American foreign policy interests.

Vorbes was first detained by ICE over accusations of overstaying his visa, then obtained Temporary Protected Status before ICE arrested him a second time last September. He has remained in custody ever since, even though no immigration judge has ordered his removal from the country.

With the August 24 deadline now set, the question is whether ICE grants Vorbe a bond hearing or releases him outright, closing out nearly a year in detention without a single formal charge ever filed against him.