Edwin Rolando Alvarado Torres v. Nay Hidalgo, et al.

Summary

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia grants Edwin Rolando Alvarado Torres’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241. The court holds that 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), rather than the mandatory-detention provision in § 1225(b)(2)(A), applies to Petitioner and orders Respondents to provide him with a bond hearing within three days.

Holdings

1. Because Petitioner was not seeking initial admission and was already within the United States, he fell within the category of aliens already in the country subject to discretionary detention under § 1226(a), rather than mandatory detention under § 1225(b)(2)(A).
2. Section 1226(a) entitled Petitioner to a bond hearing before an Immigration Judge, and his continued detention without a bond hearing was unlawful and violated his due process rights.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a noncitizen who entered the United States without inspection is subject to mandatory detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A) or discretionary detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a).
2. Whether Petitioner is entitled to a bond hearing under § 1226(a) and whether continued detention without such a hearing violates due process.

Disposition

writ_granted