Sandra Raquel Ramirez Valencia v. Pam Bondi, et al.

Summary

The United States District Court for the District of New Jersey granted Sandra Raquel Ramirez Valencia’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus challenging her mandatory immigration detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2). Relying on its interpretation of the detention statutes, the Court ordered Respondents to treat her as detained under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) and provide an individualized bond hearing within seven days.

Holdings

1. Petitioner’s detention was authorized by 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), not by the mandatory-detention provision in § 1225(b)(2).
2. Respondents were required to provide Petitioner with an individualized bond hearing before an immigration judge.
3. The Court was not required to defer to the BIA’s interpretation because statutory meaning is a judicial question.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a noncitizen who entered the United States without inspection but was arrested within the interior may be held in mandatory detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2), rather than under the discretionary detention authority of § 1226(a).
2. Whether Petitioner was entitled to an individualized bond hearing before an immigration judge.

Disposition

granted