Jose Adan Molina Lopez v. Todd M. Lyons, et al.

Summary

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia granted Jose Adan Molina Lopez’s habeas petition challenging his detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The court held that his detention was governed by the discretionary framework of 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), rather than the mandatory-detention provisions of § 1225(b), and ordered Respondents to provide a bond hearing before an immigration judge within seven days.

Holdings

1. An individual who has already entered and remains physically present in the United States, including an individual who previously presented at the border and was paroled, is governed by the discretionary detention framework of 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), not the mandatory detention provisions of § 1225(b)(2), merely because the individual has not been formally admitted or has applied for asylum.
2. Once detention is governed by § 1226(a), continued detention without a bond hearing violates the detainee's substantive and procedural due process rights.
3. A habeas proceeding is not a civil action for purposes of the Equal Access to Justice Act, so Molina Lopez had no cognizable claim for attorney's fees and costs under the EAJA.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Molina Lopez's detention was governed by the mandatory-detention provisions of 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2) or the discretionary-detention framework of 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a).
2. Whether continued detention under § 1226(a) without a bond hearing violated Molina Lopez's substantive and procedural due process rights.
3. Whether Molina Lopez could recover attorney's fees and costs under the Equal Access to Justice Act in this habeas proceeding.

Disposition

granted