Erykn Alcantara Araujo v. Warden, Pike County Correctional Center; Todd Lyons; Kristi Noem; and Pamela Bondi

Summary

The United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania granted Erykn Alcantara Araujo’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241. The court held that 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A) did not apply to Araujo, who had lived in the United States for approximately three years before being detained, and that his detention was instead governed by 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a). Respondents were ordered to provide an individualized bond hearing within 14 days or Araujo would be released.

Holdings

1. Section 1225(b)(2)(A) does not apply to Araujo because the statutory phrase "alien seeking admission" requires active and ongoing conduct seeking admission, such as physically attempting to enter at a border or port of entry; an unadmitted person residing in the interior is not necessarily an alien seeking admission.
2. Because § 1225(b)(2)(A) did not apply, Araujo's detention was governed by 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), which permits continued detention but also permits release on bond or conditional parole.
3. Araujo's continued detention without an individualized bond hearing violated procedural due process under the Fifth Amendment.
4. The appropriate remedy was an individualized bond hearing within fourteen days, with release on the petitioner's own recognizance if respondents failed to provide the hearing within that period.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Araujo, an unadmitted noncitizen who had lived in the interior of the United States for approximately three years before being re-detained, was subject to mandatory detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A) or discretionary detention under § 1226(a).
2. Whether continued detention without an individualized bond hearing violated Araujo's procedural due process rights under the Fifth Amendment.
3. Whether habeas relief should take the form of an individualized bond hearing rather than immediate release.

Disposition

granted