Nidia Garcia Serrano v. Samuel Olson, et al.

Summary

The United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky grants Nidia Garcia Serrano’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The Court holds that 8 U.S.C. § 1226, rather than § 1225(b)(2), governs Serrano’s detention and that her continued detention without an individualized bond hearing violates due process. The Court orders her immediate release and requires a bond hearing before a neutral immigration judge before any re-detention.

Holdings

1. Section 1226, not § 1225(b)(2)(A), governed Serrano's detention because she had been present in the United States for more than twenty-nine years, was not seeking admission, and had been arrested pursuant to an I-200 warrant whose authority arose under § 1226.
2. Serrano's continued detention violated the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause because she had not received an individualized merits bond hearing before a neutral Immigration Judge.
3. The proper habeas remedy was Serrano's immediate release from the unlawful detention and a bond hearing on the merits before a neutral Immigration Judge before any re-detention.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Serrano was detained under the mandatory-detention provisions of 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A) or under 8 U.S.C. § 1226.
2. Whether Serrano's continued detention without an individualized merits bond hearing violated the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment.
3. Whether habeas relief requiring immediate release and a bond hearing before a neutral Immigration Judge was an appropriate remedy.

Disposition

writ_granted