E.A.L.A. v. Jordan Powell, et al.

Summary

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama held that an immigration detainee detained in the interior of the United States may seek a bond hearing under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a). The court ordered respondents to provide a bond hearing before an immigration judge within seven days or release the petitioner, while reserving ruling on the remaining claims. The court denied the petitioner's emergency motion for immediate release.

Holdings

1. The jurisdictional requirement in § 2241 concerns personal jurisdiction over the respondent, and respondents waived any objection by failing to challenge the court's jurisdiction.
2. Section 1226 applies to aliens unlawfully detained in the interior, whereas § 1225 applies to arriving aliens seeking entry at the border; because E.A.L.A. was detained in the interior, § 1226 governed.
3. An alien detained under § 1226(a) may seek a bond hearing before an immigration judge.
4. E.A.L.A. was not entitled to immediate release merely because he was detained under § 1226(a), because § 1226 guarantees a bond hearing rather than release.

Questions Presented

1. Whether respondents waived any objection to the district court's personal jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 2241.
2. Whether E.A.L.A.'s detention was governed by 8 U.S.C. § 1226 rather than § 1225.
3. Whether detention under § 1226(a) entitled E.A.L.A. to a bond hearing.
4. Whether E.A.L.A. was entitled to immediate release rather than a bond hearing.
5. What remedy was appropriate for the conceded entitlement to a bond hearing.

Disposition

granted_in_part_reserved_in_part