Stefany M. Araujo Bermudez v. Fred Figueroa

Summary

The United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma accepted a magistrate judge’s Report and Recommendation and dismissed Stefany M. Araujo Bermudez’s 28 U.S.C. § 2241 habeas petition as moot. The petition challenged her detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and sought release or an individualized bond hearing. The court held that Bermudez’s voluntary departure and release from ICE custody eliminated any available relief, and it also concluded that she waived appellate review by failing to object to the Report and Recommendation.

Holdings

1. The firm waiver rule applied because Bermudez was informed of the deadline and consequences for objecting, did not object or request an extension, and the interests of justice did not require review.
2. The petition was moot because Bermudez was no longer in ICE custody after an Immigration Judge granted voluntary departure, leaving no effective relief the court could grant on her detention-based claims for release or a bond hearing.
3. The Report and Recommendation also identified failure to establish next-friend status and failure by Bermudez to personally sign and verify the petition as independent grounds for dismissal, but the district court resolved the case on mootness and did not need to rely on those grounds.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Bermudez's failure to object to the Report and Recommendation waived appellate and district-court review under the Tenth Circuit's firm waiver rule.
2. Whether Bermudez's § 2241 petition challenging her ICE detention and seeking release or a bond hearing became moot after an Immigration Judge granted voluntary departure and Bermudez was released from ICE custody.
3. Whether the purported next friend established next-friend status and whether the petition was properly signed and verified.

Disposition

dismissed