Adama Dioubate v. Craig Lowe

CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedApril 29, 2026
Docket3:26-cv-00648
StatusUnknown

This text of Adama Dioubate v. Craig Lowe (Adama Dioubate v. Craig Lowe) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Adama Dioubate v. Craig Lowe, (M.D. Pa. 2026).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT | FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA | ADAMA DIOUBATE, i No. 3:26cv648 | Petitioner : (Judge Munley) CRAIG LOWE, | Respondent ;

Before the court is a petition for writ of habeas corpus filed by Adama Dioubate pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241. Petitioner challenges his present

| detention at the Pike County Correctional Facility (“Pike CCF”) by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (*ICE’) and the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”). For the reasons set forth below, the petition will be granted. The respondent will be directed to provide the petitioner with a bond hearing before

an immigration judge (“lJ”) within 14 days. If a bond hearing is not scheduled | within such time, the petitioner will be released on his own recognizance.

| Background | Dioubate is a native and citizen of Guinea. (Doc. 6-2, Resp. Ex. 1). On | January 5, 2024, he entered the United States with 133 other people near Sasabe, Arizona on the Southern Border. Id. He was arrested by an agent of

United States Border Patrol and transported to the Tucson Soft Sided Facility for | further processing. Id. There, he was served with a Notice to Appear and placed

in removal proceedings as being present in the United States without being admitted or paroled, 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(A)(i). Id. From there, it appears that Dioubate was released on his own recognizance to pursue an asylum application in a non-detained setting, with regular check-ins at ICE field offices.! (See Doc. 8 at 2). On September 3, 2025, at one of these check-ins, Dioubate was arrested and taken into custody. He has | been detained since that time and is currently being held at Pike CCF, a county prison located in Lords Valley, Pennsylvania. DHS subsequently charged the

| petitioner as being present in the United States without possession of required | documents, 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(7)(A)(i)(I). (Doc. 6-3, Resp. Ex. 2, Notice to Appear at ECF p. 4). On January 6, 2026, an IJ ordered Dioubate removed to Guinea. (Doc. 6-4, | Resp. Ex 3). The lJ denied withholding of removal under the Immigration and | Naturalization Act (“INA”) and the Convention Against Torture. Id. Dioubate appealed the decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”). (Doc. 6-5,

| Resp. Ex. 4). That appeal remains pending.

|’ The petitioner is in a county jail and did not supply any exhibits with his filing. Respondent | has not supplied Dioubate’s A-file as ordered. This limits the court's consideration of the | period between January 5, 2024 and September 3, 2025 when Dioubate was in the interior of the United States. The court has no details concerning his asylum application.

Dioubate argues that his prolonged detention violates the Constitution and laws of the United States. (Doc. 1 at 7). On behalf of the respondent, the United States Attorney’s office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania asserts that 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2) applies to the petitioner and that his detention does not violate the INA or the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. Dioubate’s traverse, filed by counsel, fills in the legal arguments supporting the initial pro se petition. Specifically, the traverse argues that 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) applies to Dioubate’s detention and cites numerous district courts previously deciding the | issue. Additionally, the traverse addresses Buenrostro-Mendez v. Bondi, 166 | F.4th 494 (5th Cir. 2026). In Buenrostro-Mendez, the Fifth Circuit agreed with respondent’s reading of Section 1225. Since that time, the Eighth Circuit has interpreted Section 1225(b)(2)(A) in the respondent's favor. Avila v. Bondi, 170 F.4th 1128 (8th Cir. 2026). Below, the court revisits the analysis and | application of Section 1225(b)(2) and Section 1226(a). The court also addresses | the due process concerns inherent in the petitioner’s continued detention without | a bond hearing. Jurisdiction

| Federal district courts are authorized to grant a writ of habeas corpus under

U.S.C. § 2241 where the petitioner is detained “in violation of the Constitution |

| or laws or treaties of the United States.” 28 U.S.C. § 2241(c)(3). Dioubate filed | the instant petition while detained at Pike CCF. The petitioner asserts that his continued detention violates his right to due process. He also asserts that the wong provision of the INA is being used to justify his detention. Thus, the court habeas jurisdiction over the petition. Rumsfeld v. Padilla, 542 U.S. 426, 443 (2004). | Analysis 1. Whether Section 1225(b)(2) or Section 1226(a) Applies to Dioubate The response and traverse engage in an extended discussion about blak 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2) or § 1226(a) applies to the petitioner, an individual that was apprehended at the border and released into the interior of the United | States while the removal process proceeded. The distinction is consequential. Under Section 1226(a), a noncitizen in removal proceedings may be | detained pending a decision on removal. 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a). However, pending |a removal decision, the noncitizen also may be released on bond or conditional parole following an individualized hearing before an immigration judge. 8 U.S.C. | § 1226(a)(1)-(2); 8 C.F.R. §§ 236.1(d), 1236.1(d). | By contrast, under Section 1225(b)(2), a noncitizen classified as an | “applicant for admission” shall be detained for removal proceedings. 8 U.S.C. § | 1225(b)(2)(A). Pending a removal decision, the noncitizen is eligible only for |

| discretionary parole at the unreviewable discretion of DHS. See Jennings v. Rodriguez, 583 U.S. 281, 297 (2018) (“And neither § 1225(b)(1) nor § 1225(b)(2) says anything whatsoever about bond hearings.”). Specifically, Section 1225(b)(2)(A) provides: “in the case of an alien who is | an applicant for admission, if the examining immigration officer determines that

an alien seeking admission is not clearly and beyond a doubt entitled to be admitted, the alien shall be detained[.]” The statute refers to the term “admission,” which has a particular meaning. The statute also refers to the terms “applicant for admission” and “alien seeking admission” — previously addressed | at length in Buenrostro-Mendez and Avila and in hundreds of district court | decisions in the past year. “Admission” — The term “admission” is defined in the INA as follows: “with | respect to an alien, the lawful entry of the alien into the United States after inspection and authorization by an immigration officer.” 8 U.S.C. § 1101 /(ay(13)) “Applicant for Admission” — The term “applicant for admission” is defined | in Section 1225 itself.

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Adama Dioubate v. Craig Lowe, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/adama-dioubate-v-craig-lowe-pamd-2026.