Yiyun Lin v. Marc Fields, et al.

Summary

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky grants Yiyun Lin’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241. The Court holds that the mandatory detention provisions of 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A) do not apply to Lin, who entered the United States nearly three years earlier and was not an arriving alien or actively seeking admission. The Court concludes that his detention is instead governed by 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), which permits a bond hearing before an immigration judge.

Holdings

1. Section 1225(b)(2)(A) applies to noncitizens who are arriving in or actively seeking admission to the United States; it does not mandate detention of every noncitizen who is present in the country without having been admitted. Lin, who had entered the country nearly three years earlier and was not arriving or seeking admission, was not subject to § 1225(b)(2)(A).
2. Because Lin's detention was governed by § 1226(a), detention without an individualized bond hearing violated his Fifth Amendment right to due process.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Lin's detention was governed by the mandatory-detention provisions of 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A) or the bond-hearing framework of 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a).
2. Whether detention without an individualized bond hearing violated Lin's rights under the Fifth Amendment's Due Process Clause.
3. Whether Lin was entitled to immediate release or, alternatively, an individualized custody determination before an immigration judge.

Disposition

writ_granted