Summary
The United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida granted Erick Florian’s habeas petition challenging his detention under the Immigration and Nationality Act. The court held that his detention was governed by 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), entitling him to an individualized bond hearing, and ordered respondents to provide a hearing within ten days or release him under reasonable supervision.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the court had jurisdiction over Florian's challenge to his immigration detention notwithstanding 8 U.S.C. § 1252(g) and § 1252(b)(9).
- Whether exhaustion of available administrative remedies should be excused as futile.
- Whether Florian's detention was governed by 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2) or § 1226(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
- Whether a noncitizen detained under § 1226(a) is entitled to an individualized bond hearing before an immigration judge.
Holdings
- Sections 1252(g) and 1252(b)(9) do not strip the district court of jurisdiction over Florian's detention challenge.
- Exhaustion of available administrative remedies is excused because exhaustion would be futile.
- Florian's detention is governed by 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), not § 1225(b)(2).
- A noncitizen detained under § 1226(a) has a right to an individualized bond hearing before an immigration judge.
Key quotations
“Federal regulations provide that aliens detained under § 1226(a) receive bond hearings at the outset of detention.” (306)
“To be clear, subjecting Florian to mandatory detention under § 1225(b)(2) is unlawful.”
Factual background
Florian, a Guatemalan citizen, entered the United States in 2018 as an unaccompanied child and was released by the Department of Health and Human Services to a family sponsor. He has no criminal history, a pending asylum petition, and a pending immigrant visa petition filed by his U.S. citizen wife. ICE arrested him on January 7, 2026, and detained him at Alligator Alcatraz without providing an opportunity for release on bond.
Procedural history
Florian filed a verified petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The court served the petition on federal government counsel and ordered a response by February 16, 2026, but the respondents did not respond or appear. Relying on its rulings in materially similar habeas cases, the court granted the petition and ordered the respondents either to provide an individualized bond hearing before an immigration judge or to release Florian within ten days.