Cesar Daniel Rangel Ramirez v. Brian Henkey, et al.

District Court, D. Nevada·Decided December 24, 2025·No. 2:25-cv-02446·Unknown

Opinion

* * * CESAR DANIEL RANGEL RAMIREZ, Case No. 2:25-cv-02446-RFB-MDC Petitioner, ORDER v. BRIAN HENKEY, et al., Respondents. This case is one of a rapidly growing number before this Court challenging the federal government’s reading of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to authorize mandatory detention of all noncitizens charged with entering the United States without inspection.1 The executive branch now takes the position that the INA, specifically 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A), requires the detention of all undocumented individuals during the pendency of their removal proceedings, which can take months or years. According to this interpretation, detention without a hearing is mandatary, no matter how long a noncitizen has resided in the country, and without any due process to ensure the government has a legitimate, individualized interest in detaining them. According to a leaked internal memo, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in conjunction with the Department of Justice (DOJ) adopted this new legal position on a nationwide 1 This Court has already granted petitioners relief—both preliminary and on the merits— in dozens of similar challenges. See Livia Vicharra v. Henkey, No. 2:25-cv-02336-RFB-EJY, 2025 WL 3564725, at *1 n.1 (D. Nev. Dec. 12, 2025) (collecting over forty cases). basis on July 8, 2025.2 It subjects millions of undocumented U.S. residents to prolonged detention without the opportunity for release on bond, in contravention of decades of agency practice and robust due process protections hitherto afforded to such residents under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a).3 On September 5, 2025, the Bureau of Immigration Appeals (BIA) issued a precedential decision adopting this new interpretation of the government’s detention authority under the INA. See Matter of Yajure Hurtado, 29 I&N Dec. 216 (BIA 2025) (“Hurtado”). After Hurtado, immigration judges no longer have authority to hear bond requests or grant bond to noncitizens present in the U.S. who entered without inspection. Id. The overwhelming majority of district courts across the country, including this Court, that have considered the government’s new statutory interpretation have found it incorrect and unlawful. See Escobar Salgado v. Mattos, No. 2:25-CV-01872-RFB-EJY, 2025 WL 3205356 (D. Nev. Nov. 17, 2025) (finding “that the plain meaning of the relevant statutory provisions, when interpreted according to fundamental canons of statutory construction,” as well as the legislative history and decades of consistent agency practice establish “that the government's new interpretation and policy under [§ 1225(b)(2)(A)] is unlawful.”); see also Barco Mercado v. Francis, No. 1:25-CV-06852, at *9-10 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 26, 2025) (collecting over 350 decisions by over 160 different district judges finding the application of §1225(b)(2)(A) to noncitizens residing in the United States unlawful). A nationwide class has also been certified, and declaratory relief granted to all class members holding that they are being detained without a bond hearing unlawfully. See Bautista v. Santacruz, No. 5:25-CV-01873-SSS-BFM, 2025 WL 3289861 (C.D. Cal. Nov. 20, 2025); Bautista v. Santacruz, No. 5:25-CV-01873-SSS-BFM, 2025 WL 3288403 (C.D. Cal. Nov. 25, 2025). Petitioner is currently detained without the opportunity for release on bond in the custody of Federal Respondents at Nevada Southern Detention Center, pursuant to this new detention 2 See ICE Memo: Interim Guidance Regarding Detention Authority for Applications for Admission, AILA Doc. No. 25071607 (July 8, 2025), https://perma.cc/5GKM-JYGX. 3 See Kyle Cheney & Myah Ward, Trump’s new detention policy targets millions of immigrants. Judges keep saying its illegal., Politico (Sept. 20, 2025 at 4:00 p.m. EDT), https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/20/ice-detention-immigration-policy-00573850, https://perma.cc/L686-E97L. “policy.” He asserts the application of § 1225(b)(2) to him is unlawful under the INA, and his continued detention violates the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. He seeks a writ of habeas corpus requiring that he be released unless Respondents provide him with a bond hearing under § 1226(a). For the reasons set forth below, the Petition is granted and the Court orders Respondents to provide Petitioner a constitutionally adequate bond hearing by December 30, 2025, or release him. On December 9, 2025, Petitioner filed his Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus. ECF No. 1. On December 11, 2025, this case was transferred to the undersigned judge as related to three pending putative class actions pending before the Court. ECF No. 3. That same day, the Court ordered Respondents to show cause by December 15, 2025, why the Court should not grant the Petition. ECF No. 5. On December 15, 2025, Respondents’ counsel filed a notice of appearance and motion to extend time to file a response to the Order to Show Cause, seeking eight additional days to respond and citing administrative burdens, including deadlines in other immigration detention cases and the time required to gather documents relevant to Petitioner’s claims, as grounds for good cause. ECF No. 7 at 3. Petitioner’s counsel opposed said request. Id. at 2. The Court granted the extension in part, giving Respondents six additional days to file and an extended deadline of December 21, 2025. ECF No. 11. On December 22, 2025, a day after the Court’s extended deadline, Respondents filed a second motion to extend time to respond, seeking a new deadline of January 5, 2026—an additional fifteen days beyond the already-extended December 21, 2025, deadline. ECF No. 13. Petitioner’s counsel again opposed this extension request. Id. at 2. Respondents’ counsel cited several administrative burdens as the basis for the extension: the AUSA assigned to this case had to go on leave due to illness, and “[t]he defensive division of the USAO-Nevada is severely understaffed with only two AUSAs handling defensive cases . . . . In addition to this case, this office has received in the last two weeks twenty-two other habeas corpus immigration cases, which will need the preparation of responsive pleadings[.]” Id. The Court’s Order follows. A. Legal Background The Court fully incorporates by reference the legal background regarding the government’s detention authority and removal proceedings under the INA, as well as the government’s new statutory reading and mass detention “policy,” set forth in its ruling in Escobar Salgado, 2025 WL 3205356, at *2-6 (D. Nev. Nov. 17, 2025). B. Petitioner Rangel Ramirez The Court makes the following findings as to Petitioner. Mr. Rangel Ramirez is a 21-year- old native and citizen of Venezuela who has resided continuously in the United States since 2022. ECF No. 1 at 8. In 2022, Petitioner entered the United States as an unaccompanied minor. Id. at 2. He was inspected by immigration authorities upon entry and released to the custody of a relative, his aunt. Id. Petitioner possesses a valid work permit and has been compliant with all immigration proceedings to-date. Id. at 8. In addition, he currently has a pending asylum application. Id. Prior to his detention, Petitioner resided with his family and worked in Caldwell, Idaho, as a small business manager and General Contractor. Id. He has no criminal history. Id. Petitioner has been detained by Respondents at Nevada Southern Detention Center since December 1, 2025, when he was apprehended by ICE while leaving his home in Idaho to go to work. ECF No. 1 at 8. He has not been scheduled for a hearing on his removability or a bond hearing, and in his Petition, it is stated that “ICE officials have indicated they do not intend to release Petitioner from their custody.” Id. The Constitution guarantees that the writ of habeas corpus is “available to ever

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Cesar Daniel Rangel Ramirez v. Brian Henkey, et al., (D. Nev. 2025).

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