Summary
The United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia granted Angel Alfonso Arteaga Flores’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 and denied the federal respondents’ motion to dismiss. The court held that Flores’s immigration detention was governed by 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), rather than § 1225(b)(2), and violated due process, ordering his release, return of property, and prohibiting re-arrest and detention pending further order.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the district court had jurisdiction to review petitioner's immigration detention under 28 U.S.C. § 2241.
- Whether petitioner's detention was governed by 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A), applicable to certain arriving aliens seeking admission, or by 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a).
- Whether petitioner's detention violated due process.
- What relief was appropriate if the detention was unlawful.
Holdings
- The court had jurisdiction to review the legality of petitioner's immigration detention.
- Petitioner's detention was governed by 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), not 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A).
- Petitioner's detention violated his due process rights.
Key quotations
“the Court finds: it has jurisdiction, Petitioner’s detention is governed by 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) not 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2), and Petitioner’s due process rights have been violated.”
Factual background
Border Patrol apprehended Arteaga Flores in 2023 and identified him as inadmissible under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(A)(i), after which he was served with a Notice to Appear and released into the United States in September 2023. In January 2026, he was encountered at a West Virginia jail, served with an immigration detainer, and transferred to federal immigration custody. He had been arrested in the interior of the United States after state criminal charges were filed and then dropped; the government did not contend that he was dangerous or a flight risk. His wife, a United States citizen, was imminently expected to give birth to their child.
Procedural history
Arteaga Flores filed a verified § 2241 petition on February 2, 2026, challenging his detention after Immigration and Customs Enforcement assumed custody from a West Virginia jail. The federal respondents filed a combined response and motion to dismiss, and the court heard argument on February 12, 2026. The court had already granted relief by order entered February 12 and issued this memorandum opinion explaining its reasoning.
Remand instructions
Respondents were ordered to release petitioner, return his property, and refrain from re-arresting and detaining him pending further order of the court.