Erag Zaheri v. Juan Baltazar, et al.

Summary

The United States District Court for the District of Colorado grants Erag Zaheri’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus challenging his continued immigration detention under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 and the framework established in Zadvydas v. Davis. The court concludes that Zaheri’s removal to Afghanistan is not significantly likely to occur in the reasonably foreseeable future and that the government failed to rebut that showing. Respondents are ordered to release Zaheri within 24 hours, subject to appropriate supervised-release conditions, and to file a compliance report.

Holdings

1. Zaheri established good reason to believe that his removal was not significantly likely to occur in the reasonably foreseeable future, and the government failed to rebut that showing with sufficient evidence. His continued immigration detention was therefore unreasonable under Zadvydas.
2. A single prior instance of noncooperation did not indefinitely toll the removal period or justify prolonged detention without end where Zaheri later represented that he had continuously cooperated and the government still could not establish a reasonably foreseeable removal.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Zaheri's continued detention after a final order of removal violated the framework established in Zadvydas v. Davis because there was no significant likelihood of removal in the reasonably foreseeable future.
2. Whether Zaheri's prior refusal to board a removal flight justified continued detention or indefinitely tolled the removal period despite his later cooperation with removal efforts.

Disposition

writ_granted