Arquimedes Casiano Mero-Delgado v. FCI La Tuna, Warden

Summary

The United States District Court for the Western District of Texas denies Arquimedes Casiano Mero-Delgado’s pro se petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241. The court holds that his final order of removal makes him ineligible to apply First Step Act earned time credits toward prerelease custody or supervised release. The court also rejects his equal protection claim, concluding that the Bureau of Prisons’ exclusion of prisoners subject to removal orders is rationally related to a legitimate governmental interest.

Holdings

1. A prisoner who is the subject of a final order of removal is ineligible to apply First Step Act earned time credits toward prerelease custody or supervised release under 18 U.S.C. § 3632(d)(4)(E)(i). Mero-Delgado's ICE detainer and Order of Removal established that he was subject to a final order of removal.
2. The Bureau of Prisons' exclusion of prisoners subject to final orders of removal from prerelease custody, supervised release, and related community-based programs did not violate equal protection because the classification was rationally related to the legitimate governmental interest of preventing immigration detainees from fleeing into the general population.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a federal prisoner subject to a final order of removal is eligible to apply First Step Act earned time credits toward prerelease custody or supervised release.
2. Whether the Bureau of Prisons violated equal protection by excluding prisoners subject to removal orders from time-credit-based community programs and release-related placement.

Disposition

dismissed