Damir Askarov v. Juan Baltazar, et al.

Summary

The United States District Court for the District of Colorado grants Damir Askarov’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241. The court holds that his detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1231(a)(6) exceeded the presumptively reasonable six-month period established by Zadvydas v. Davis and that respondents failed to show a significant likelihood of removal to a third country in the reasonably foreseeable future. The court orders his immediate release, subject to limited transportation and temporary custody provisions.

Holdings

1. Once a detained noncitizen has been held beyond the presumptively reasonable six-month period and provides good reason to believe that removal is not likely in the reasonably foreseeable future, the government must produce sufficient evidence to rebut that showing; if it cannot, continued detention violates the Fifth Amendment and the limits of 8 U.S.C. § 1231(a)(6).
2. A detainee's flight risk does not justify continued indefinite civil detention when removal is not likely in the reasonably foreseeable future.
3. A noncitizen may challenge the legality of immigration detention through a habeas petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Askarov's continued detention after more than six months violated the limits imposed by 8 U.S.C. § 1231(a)(6), Zadvydas v. Davis, and the Fifth Amendment because removal was not likely in the reasonably foreseeable future.
2. Whether the government's assertion that Askarov was a flight risk justified continued civil immigration detention despite the absence of evidence that removal was reasonably foreseeable.
3. Whether the court should grant relief under the Administrative Procedure Act.

Disposition

writ_granted