In re Alejandro Pueblas Rojas

Summary

The United States District Court for the District of Nevada granted Alejandro Pueblas Rojas’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241. The court held that his detention under the government’s interpretation of 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A) was unlawful and violated procedural and substantive due process. The court ordered his release subject to bond conditions and enjoined respondents from denying release based on mandatory detention under that provision.

Holdings

1. The district court had jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 to review petitioner's challenge to the lawfulness of his immigration detention because the relevant jurisdiction-stripping provisions of 8 U.S.C. § 1252 did not apply.
2. Petitioner was subject to detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) and its implementing regulations, not mandatory detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A), because he entered without inspection and was arrested by ICE away from a port of entry.
3. Detaining petitioner without an opportunity for release on bond violated his procedural due process rights under the Fifth Amendment.
4. Petitioner's continued detention without an individualized special or compelling justification violated substantive due process under the Fifth Amendment.
5. The appropriate relief was immediate release subject to the bond and other conditions previously identified by the immigration judge, together with an injunction barring respondents from continuing detention based on mandatory detention under § 1225(b)(2).

Questions Presented

1. Whether the district court had habeas jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 to review petitioner's immigration detention notwithstanding the jurisdiction-stripping provisions of 8 U.S.C. § 1252.
2. Whether the government's interpretation of 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A) required mandatory detention without a bond hearing for petitioner, who entered the United States without inspection but was arrested away from a port of entry.
3. Whether petitioner's detention without an opportunity for release on bond violated the procedural due process protections of the Fifth Amendment.
4. Whether petitioner's detention without an individualized justification violated substantive due process.
5. What relief was appropriate under 28 U.S.C. §§ 2241 and 2243.

Disposition

writ_granted