Summary
The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania held that Lovelie Marcel's immigration detention is governed by 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), rather than mandatory detention under § 1225(b)(2). The court granted habeas relief in part and ordered Respondents to provide Marcel with an individualized bond hearing before an immigration judge within ten days. Additional requested relief was denied without prejudice.
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Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether Petitioner, who entered the United States at a port of entry, was paroled, and was later arrested in the interior, was subject to mandatory detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2).
- Whether Petitioner was detained under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) and therefore had a statutory right to an individualized bond hearing.
- Whether Petitioner was entitled to additional habeas relief beyond an individualized bond hearing.
Holdings
- An individual like Petitioner, who was arrested and detained in the interior of the United States after being paroled into the country, is not subject to mandatory detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2); her detention is governed by § 1226(a).
- Because Petitioner was detained under § 1226(a), she had a statutory right to an individualized bond hearing before a neutral immigration judge.
- The petition was denied without prejudice to the extent Petitioner sought additional relief beyond an individualized bond hearing.
Key quotations
“the Court now holds that Petitioner’s detention is governed by § 1226(a) and she has a statutory right to an individualized bond hearing.”
“within ten (10) days of this Order, Petitioner must receive an individualized bond hearing before a neutral immigration judge pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1226”
Factual background
Lovelie Marcel, a native of Haiti, was paroled into the United States at Brownsville, Texas, in December 2022 and later lived and worked in Pennsylvania. After resolving a state food-stamp-fraud case through an ARD disposition with restitution, she was arrested by immigration agents while reporting to her probation officer and placed in removal proceedings as an arriving alien. She was detained without a bond hearing; an immigration judge ordered her removed and denied asylum and withholding claims, and her appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals remained pending.
Procedural history
Marcel was detained by immigration authorities and placed in removal proceedings. An immigration judge ordered her removed and denied her applications for asylum and withholding of removal; her appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals remained pending. She filed this habeas petition, and after briefing the district court granted relief in part by ordering an individualized bond hearing, while denying without prejudice her requests for additional relief.
Remand instructions
Respondents must provide Petitioner with an individualized bond hearing before a neutral immigration judge within ten days of the order and must notify the court of the outcome within seven days after the hearing.