Ardit Lika v. Rafael Vergara

Summary

The document is a Report and Recommendation addressing Ardit Lika’s motion for a temporary restraining order in a 28 U.S.C. § 2241 habeas proceeding concerning immigration detention. The magistrate judge recommends denying the motion because the claims appear moot following a final order of removal and, alternatively, because the petitioner failed to show a substantial likelihood of success on his statutory and due process claims. The recommendation relies on Fifth Circuit and Supreme Court precedent concerning detention under 8 U.S.C. §§ 1225 and 1231.

Holdings

1. The petition and temporary restraining order motion appeared moot because they challenged detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A), while Lika had obtained a final order of removal and was no longer being detained under that provision.
2. Assuming the statutory challenge was not moot, Lika failed to show a substantial likelihood of success because Fifth Circuit precedent foreclosed his argument that his residence in the United States made him eligible for bond under § 1226(a).
3. Lika failed to show a substantial likelihood of success on his procedural- and substantive-due-process claims challenging detention under § 1225(b)(2)(A) without an individualized bond hearing.
4. The motion for a temporary restraining order should be denied because Lika failed to establish a substantial likelihood of success on the merits.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Lika's motion for a temporary restraining order was moot because he no longer was detained under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A) and had received a final order of removal.
2. Whether Lika showed a substantial likelihood of success on his statutory claim that he was entitled to release on bond under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) rather than mandatory detention under § 1225(b)(2)(A).
3. Whether Lika showed a substantial likelihood of success on his procedural- and substantive-due-process challenges to detention without a bond hearing under § 1225(b)(2)(A).

Disposition

other