Emmanuel I. Mgweeney v. Warden of the Otay Mesa Detention Facility, et al.

Summary

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of California transferred a pro se federal immigration detainee’s 28 U.S.C. § 2241 habeas petition to the Southern District of California. The court applied the immediate-custodian and district-of-confinement rules because the petitioner challenged his physical custody at the Otay Mesa Detention Facility in San Diego, California. The court transferred the action in the interest of justice and did not rule on the motion for appointment of counsel.

Holdings

1. A § 2241 petitioner challenging present physical custody must name the immediate custodian as respondent and file the petition in the district of confinement; because Mgweeney was confined at the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego, the Southern District of California was the proper district.
2. When the action was filed in a court lacking jurisdiction and could have been brought in another federal court, transfer to that court is appropriate in the interest of justice under 28 U.S.C. § 1631.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a § 2241 petition challenging present physical custody should be filed in the district of confinement with the immediate custodian named as respondent.
2. Whether the action should be transferred under 28 U.S.C. § 1631, rather than dismissed, because the petition was filed in the wrong district.

Disposition

transferred