Jorge Alberto Ibarra-Lopez v. Tood Lyons, et al.

District Court, E.D. California·Decided June 12, 2026·No. 1:26-cv-01799·Unknown

Opinion

7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9

10 JORGE ALBERTO IBARRA-LOPEZ, Case No. 1:26-cv-01799-JLT-EPG-HC

11 Petitioners, FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATION TO GRANT PETITION FOR WRIT OF 12 v. HABEAS CORPUS, DIRECT RESPONDENTS TO IMMEDIATELY 13 TOOD LYONS, et al., RELEASE PETITIONER, AND DENY RESPONDENTS’ MOTION TO LIFT NO- 14 Respondents. TRANSFER ORDER AS MOOT

15 (ECF Nos. 1, 8)

16 17 Petitioner, represented by counsel, is a federal immigration detainee proceeding with a 18 petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241. For the reasons set forth herein, 19 the undersigned recommends that the petition for writ of habeas corpus be granted on Count 20 Seven, Respondents be directed to immediately release Petitioner, and Respondents’ motion to 21 lift no-transfer order be denied as moot. 22 I. 23 BACKGROUND 24 Petitioner is a citizen of Mexico who entered the United States in or about 2001 and has 25 resided continuously in the United States since that time. Petitioner was placed in removal 26 proceedings in or about April 2012. Petitioner applied for cancellation of removal pursuant to 8 27 U.S.C. § 1229b(b). On September 11, 2014, an immigration judge (“IJ”) denied Petitioner’s application for cancellation of removal and ordered him removed from the United States. (ECF 1 No. 1 at 5.1) On March 11, 2016, the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) dismissed 2 Petitioner’s appeal. Petitioner then filed a petition for review with the Ninth Circuit Court of 3 Appeals that was subsequently dismissed. (ECF No. 1 at 6.) 4 In January 2017, Petitioner filed a motion to reopen his removal proceedings with the 5 BIA in order to apply for asylum based on changed country conditions. Petitioner also sought 6 reopening based on the diagnosis of autism of his United States citizen son. On January 29, 7 2026, the BIA denied Petitioner’s motion to reopen. Petitioner timely filed a petition for review 8 with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, where the matter is currently pending. (ECF No. 1 at 6.) 9 On February 3, 2026, the Ninth Circuit issued a temporary stay of removal pending further order. 10 (ECF No. 6-1 at 1.) 11 In 2023, Petitioner was released on an order of supervision. The petition alleges that 12 Petitioner has complied with all conditions of the order, including periodic check-ins with 13 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”). (ECF No. 1 at 6.) At a regularly scheduled 14 check-in with ICE on September 10, 2025, Respondents revoked Petitioner’s order of 15 supervision and arrested him. Petitioner has been detained at the Mesa Verde ICE Processing 16 Center since then. (Id. at 2.) 17 On March 5, 2026, Petitioner filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus and a motion for 18 temporary restraining order (“TRO”). (ECF Nos. 1, 2.) That same day, the assigned district judge 19 denied the motion for TRO as untimely, referred the matter to the undersigned for a 20 determination on the merits, and prohibited Respondents from removing Petitioner from the 21 United States or transferring him out of this district pending further order of the Court. (ECF No. 22 5.) 23 On April 6, 2026, Respondents filed a response, and Petitioner filed a reply on April 21, 24 2026. (ECF Nos. 6, 7.) On May 28, 2026, the Ninth Circuit denied Petitioner’s motion for stay of 25 removal. (ECF No. 8-2.) On May 29, 2026, Respondents filed a motion to lift this Court’s order 26 prohibiting removal or transfer. (ECF No. 8.) On June 8, 2026, Petitioner filed an opposition. 27 (ECF No. 9.) 1 II. 2 DISCUSSION 3 A. Zadvydas 4 Congress has enacted a complex statutory scheme governing the detention of noncitizens 5 during removal proceedings and following the issuance of a final order of removal. “Where an 6 alien falls within this statutory scheme can affect whether his detention is mandatory or 7 discretionary, as well as the kind of review process available to him if he wishes to contest the 8 necessity of his detention.” Prieto-Romero v. Clark, 534 F.3d 1053, 1057 (9th Cir. 2008). 9 “Section 241(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), codified at 8 U.S.C. 10 § 1231(a), authorizes the detention of noncitizens who have been ordered removed from the 11 United States.” Johnson v. Arteaga-Martinez, 596 U.S. 573, 575 (2022). “In particular, 12 § 1231(a)(6) provides that after a 90-day ‘removal period,’2 a noncitizen ‘may be detained’ or 13 may be released under terms of supervision.” Arteaga-Martinez, 596 U.S. at 575. “After the 14 removal period expires, the Government ‘may’ detain only four categories of people: (1) those 15 who are ‘inadmissible’ on certain specified grounds; (2) those who are ‘removable’ on certain 16 specified grounds; (3) those it determines ‘to be a risk to the community’; and (4) those it 17 determines to be ‘unlikely to comply with the order of removal.’” Id. at 578–79 (quoting 8 U.SC. 18 § 1231(a)(6)). 19 In Zadvydas v. Davis, 533 U.S. 678 (2001), the Supreme Court addressed a challenge to 20 prolonged detention under § 1231(a)(6) by noncitizens who “had been ordered removed by the 21 2 “The removal period begins on the latest of the following”: 22 (i) The date the order of removal becomes administratively final. (ii) If the removal order is judicially reviewed and if a court 23 orders a stay of the removal of the alien, the date of the court's final order. 24 (iii) If the alien is detained or confined (except under an immigration process), the date the alien is released from 25 detention or confinement. 8 U.S.C. § 1231(a)(1)(B). “During the removal period, detention is mandatory.” Johnson v. Guzman 26 Chavez, 594 U.S. 523, 528 (2021) (citing 8 U.S.C. § 1231(a)(2)). The “removal period in § 1231(a)(1) will commence even if a stay of removal is entered while a federal court . . . considers a petition for review of a denial by the Board of Immigration Appeals of an alien’s motion to reopen[.]” Aleman 27 Gonzalez v. Barr, 955 F.3d 762, 767 (9th Cir. 2020) (citing Diouf v. Mukasey, 542 F.3d 1222, 1230 (9th Cir. 2008)), rev’d on other grounds and remanded sub nom. Garland v. Aleman Gonzalez, 596 U.S. 543, 1 government and all administrative and judicial review was exhausted, but their removal could 2 not be effectuated because their designated countries either refused to accept them or the United 3 States lacked a repatriation treaty with the receiving country.” Prieto–Romero, 534 F.3d at 1062 4 (citing Zadvydas, 533 U.S. at 684–86). The Supreme Court “read an implicit limitation” into the 5 statute “in light of the Constitution’s demands,” holding that § 1231(a)(6) does not authorize 6 indefinite detention and “limits an alien’s post-removal-period detention to a period reasonably 7 necessary to bring about that alien’s removal from the United States.” Zadvydas, 533 U.S. at 8 689.

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