Hector Rodriguez Plascencia v. Pamela Bondi, et al.

Summary

The United States District Court for the District of Arizona granted Hector Rodriguez Plascencia’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus challenging his immigration detention. The court held that the jurisdictional bars asserted by the government did not preclude review and declined to revisit its prior conclusion that similarly situated noncitizens are generally subject to discretionary detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), rather than mandatory detention under § 1225(b)(2). Respondents were ordered to provide a bond redetermination hearing within seven days or release Plascencia, and to file a notice of compliance.

Holdings

1. The court had jurisdiction because Petitioner was not directly challenging a final order of removal and no final order of removal had been issued.
2. Petitioner was entitled to a bond redetermination hearing or release; the court declined to revisit its conclusion in Echevarria that individuals in Petitioner's circumstances are not categorically subject to mandatory detention under § 1225(b)(2).

Questions Presented

1. Whether 8 U.S.C. §§ 1252(g), 1252(b)(9), or 1252(a)(5) deprived the district court of jurisdiction over Petitioner's § 2241 challenge to his immigration detention.
2. Whether a noncitizen who entered the United States without inspection in 1998 and was later apprehended within the United States is subject to mandatory detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2) or discretionary detention and a bond hearing under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a).

Disposition

writ_granted