Antonio Dejes Martinez Chavez v. Garrett Ripa, Field Office Director of Enforcement and Removal Operations, Miami, Field Office, Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Secretary Kristi Noem, Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security; Pamela Jo Bondi, U.S. Attorney General; and Warden Matthew Mordant, Warden of South Florida Detention Center

Summary

The United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida held that Antonio Dejes Martinez Chavez's detention was governed by 8 U.S.C. § 1226 rather than § 1225 because he had been present in the United States for years. The court granted habeas relief in part and ordered the defendants to provide Chavez with the statutory process required under § 1226, including a bond hearing, but denied his request for immediate release. The court declined to reach his Fifth Amendment claim and closed the case.

Holdings

1. Because Chavez had been present in the United States for years, his detention was governed by 8 U.S.C. § 1226 rather than § 1225.
2. As a noncitizen detained under § 1226(a), Chavez was entitled to a bond hearing and the statutory process required by § 1226.
3. The court rejected the defendants' argument that several of them were not proper parties to the habeas action.
4. Chavez was not entitled to immediate release; the court could require a bond hearing but could not order release because § 1226(a)(1) leaves the detention-or-release determination to the executive branch.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Chavez's detention was governed by the mandatory-detention provisions of 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2) or the discretionary detention provisions of § 1226(a).
2. Whether Chavez was entitled to a bond hearing under § 1226(a).
3. Whether the named defendants were proper parties to the habeas action.
4. Whether Chavez was entitled to immediate release from custody.
5. Whether the court needed to decide Chavez's Fifth Amendment challenge to detention without a bond hearing.

Disposition

remanded