Ricardo Reyes-Godenes v. Mike Lewis, Jailer, Hopkins County Jail; Samuel Olson, Interim Field Office Director, Chicago Field Office, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Kristi Noem, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Summary

The United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky grants Ricardo Reyes-Godenes’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The court holds that his detention is governed by 8 U.S.C. § 1226 rather than the mandatory-detention provisions of 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2), because he had been present in the United States for more than twenty years and was not seeking admission. The court concludes that he is entitled to a bond hearing before an immigration judge.

Holdings

1. Section 1226, not Section 1225(b)(2)(A), governed Reyes-Godenes's detention because he was already present in the United States, was not seeking admission, was placed in regular removal proceedings, and was arrested under a Form I-200 warrant authorized by Section 1226.
2. Reyes-Godenes's continued detention without a merits bond hearing before a neutral immigration judge violated the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause and the INA.

Questions Presented

1. Whether 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A), rather than 8 U.S.C. § 1226, governed the detention of a noncitizen who had lived in the United States for approximately twenty-five years, entered without inspection, and was not currently seeking admission.
2. Whether continued detention without a merits bond hearing before an immigration judge violated the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause and the Immigration and Nationality Act.
3. What remedy was appropriate for the unlawful detention.

Disposition

writ_granted