Shokhrukh Ismatov v. Todd M. Lyons, et al.

Summary

The United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky granted Shokhrukh Ismatov’s amended petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The court held that 8 U.S.C. § 1226, rather than § 1225(b)(2), governed his immigration detention and that his continued detention without a merits bond hearing violated due process and the Immigration and Nationality Act. The court ordered his immediate release and required a neutral bond hearing before an immigration judge before any re-detention.

Holdings

1. Section 1226, not § 1225(b)(2)(A), governed Ismatov's detention because he had been present in the United States for approximately three years, was not seeking admission, was not designated as an arriving alien in his Notice to Appear, and was arrested pursuant to an I-200 warrant whose authority arose under § 1226.
2. Ismatov's continued detention violated the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause and the INA because he had been detained without an individualized merits bond hearing before a neutral immigration judge.
3. The proper remedy was immediate release from the unlawful detention and a neutral merits bond hearing before an immigration judge before any re-detention.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Ismatov's detention was governed by the mandatory-detention provisions of 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A) or the detention provisions of 8 U.S.C. § 1226.
2. Whether Ismatov's continued detention without an individualized merits bond hearing violated the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause and the Immigration and Nationality Act.
3. Whether the proper habeas remedy was immediate release and a bond hearing before a neutral immigration judge before any re-detention.

Disposition

writ_granted