Jorge Bautista-Avalos v. Michael Bernacke, et al.

CourtDistrict Court, D. Nevada
DecidedOctober 27, 2025
Docket2:25-cv-01987
StatusUnknown

This text of Jorge Bautista-Avalos v. Michael Bernacke, et al. (Jorge Bautista-Avalos v. Michael Bernacke, et al.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Nevada primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jorge Bautista-Avalos v. Michael Bernacke, et al., (D. Nev. 2025).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 6 * * *

7 JORGE BAUTISTA-AVALOS, Case No. 2:25-cv-01987-RFB-BNW

8 Petitioner, ORDER

9 v.

10 MICHAEL BERNACKE, et al., 11 Respondents. 12

13 Pending before the Court is Petitioner Jorge Bautista-Avalos’ (ECF No. 3) Motion for 14 Preliminary Injunction. For the following reasons, the Court grants the Motion. 15 16 I. BACKGROUND 17 Petitioner Jorge Bautista-Avalos is currently detained at the Nevada Southern Detention 18 Center (NSDC) in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and has been 19 detained there since September 16, 2025. 20 Petitioner is a citizen of Mexico who has resided in the United States continuously since 21 2007. He lives in Marcola, Oregon with his wife and their three daughters, ages 15, 17, and 23, all 22 of whom are U.S. citizens. He has worked as a head ranch hand for more than 18 years, and his 23 employer and community members describe him as honest, hardworking, and indispensable. 24 On September 15, 2025, while Petitioner was visiting Las Vegas, he was taken into custody 25 by local police based on an allegation of misdemeanor domestic battery and detained at Clark 26 County Detention Center (CCDC). ECF No. 2 at 2-5. CCDC sent an email inquiry to ICE regarding 27 Petitioner, and ICE issued an immigration detainer (Form I-247A) with CCDC. Id. The Clark 28 County District Attorney’s Office rejected the domestic battery charge the same day. Id. Petitioner 1 has no other criminal history. ECF No. 2-2 at 7-8. 2 Pursuant to the immigration detainer, Petitioner was transferred from CCDC custody 3 directly into ICE custody on September 16, 2025, and placed into removal proceedings pursuant 4 to 8 U.S.C. § 1229a by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). ECF No. 2 at 2-5. He was 5 issued a Notice to Appear (NTA) and charged with being inadmissible under 8 U.S.C. § 6 1182(a)(6)(A)(i) as a noncitizen who entered the United States without being admitted or paroled, 7 and under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(7)(A)(i)(I) as an immigrant not in possession of a valid unexpired 8 immigrant visa or other valid entry document at the time of application for admission. Id. Removal 9 proceedings are ongoing. 10 Petitioner requested a custody redetermination hearing (i.e. bond hearing) before the Las 11 Vegas Immigration Court, which was held on October 7, 2025. ECF No. 2-3 at 2-4. Upon 12 consideration of the evidence, the Immigration Judge (IJ) found Petitioner “does not present a 13 danger to persons or property, is not a threat to the national security, and does not pose a risk of 14 flight.” Hernandez v. Sessions, 872 F.3d 976, 982 (9th Cir. 2017) (quoting In re Guerra, 241 I. & 15 N. Dec. 37, 38 (B.I.A. 2006)). Accordingly, the IJ found Petitioner would be entitled to release on 16 bond under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) in the amount of $3,500 with alternatives to detention (ATD) at the 17 discretion of DHS. Id. at 4-5. However, the IJ cited the Bureau of Immigration Appeals (BIA)’s 18 binding decision in Matter of Yajure-Hurtado, 29 I&N Dec. 216 (BIA 2025), issued on September 19 9, 2025, and its holding that “an alien who is charged with inadmissibility . . . just like [Petitioner] 20 is subject to mandatory detention,” such that, post-Hurtado, an immigration judge has no 21 “authority to redetermine the custody conditions of an alien who crossed the border unlawfully, 22 without inspection[.]” Id. Accordingly, the IJ denied Petitioner bond and issued its finding that 23 Petitioner would be entitled to release on bond under § 1226(a) as an alternative finding. Id. 24 The BIA’s decision in Hurtado is consistent with DHS’ new interpretation of 8 U.S.C. § 25 1225 as mandating the detention of all undocumented noncitizens in the U.S. pending the 26 resolution of their removal proceedings—which can take months or years—no matter how long 27 they have resided in the country, without consideration of whether the government has a legitimate 28 interest in detaining them. This policy, which DHS, in conjunction with the Department of Justice, 1 adopted on July 8, 2025,1 subjects millions of undocumented residents to prolonged detention 2 without the opportunity for release on bond, in contravention of decades of agency practice and 3 robust due process protections hitherto afforded to such residents under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a).2 The 4 Court fully incorporates by reference the statutory and regulatory background relevant to this new 5 mandatory detention policy set forth in its ruling in Vazquez. 2025 WL 2676082, at *3-5. 6 The overwhelming majority of district courts across the country, including this Court, that 7 have considered DHS and the BIA’s new statutory interpretation have found it incorrect and 8 unlawful. See Maldonado Vazquez v. Feeley, 2:25-CV-01542-RFB-EJY, 2025 WL 2676082 (D. 9 Nev. Sept. 17, 2025) (finding the statutory text and “canons of statutory interpretation, including 10 the legislative history, regulations, and long history of consistent agency practice, as well as the 11 doctrine of constitutional avoidance” demonstrate the government’s new reading of § 1225(b)(2) 12 is likely unlawful); see also Rodriguez v. Bostock, No. 3:25-CV-05240-TMC, 2025 WL 2782499 13 (W.D. Wash. Sept. 30, 2025) (“Every district court to address this question has concluded that the 14 government's position belies the statutory text of the INA, canons of statutory interpretation, 15 legislative history, and longstanding agency practice.”) (collecting cases). 16 Petitioner is the sole provider for his family, while his wife remains at home caring for 17 their three children. His ongoing detention pursuant to Respondents’ new detention policy is 18 depriving his family of income and causing his wife and daughters significant mental and 19 emotional distress. 20 21 II. PROCEDURAL HISTORY 22 On October 16, 2025, Petitioner commenced this action by filing a Petition for Writ of 23 Habeas Corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241, challenging the lawfulness of his detention under the 24 Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. ECF

25 1 See ICE Memo: Interim Guidance Regarding Detention Authority for Applications for 26 Admission, AILA Doc. No. 25071607 (July 8, 2025), https://perma.cc/5GKM-JYGX. 27 2 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), 28 https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/20/ice-detention-immigration-policy-00573850, https://perma.cc/L686-E97L. 1 No. 1. Petitioner concurrently filed the instant Motion for Preliminary Injunction. ECF Nos. 3. The 2 Court ordered service and set a briefing schedule on the Petition and Motion. ECF Nos. 4. 3 Respondents filed their opposition to the Motion on October 24, 2025. 4 The Court’s Order on the Motion for Preliminary Injunction follows. 5 6 III. LEGAL STANDARDS 7 A. Preliminary Injunction 8 Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Skidmore v. Swift & Co.
323 U.S. 134 (Supreme Court, 1944)
Preiser v. Rodriguez
411 U.S. 475 (Supreme Court, 1973)
Immigration & Naturalization Service v. St. Cyr
533 U.S. 289 (Supreme Court, 2001)
Demore v. Kim
538 U.S. 510 (Supreme Court, 2003)
Hamdi v. Rumsfeld
542 U.S. 507 (Supreme Court, 2004)
Francisco Sanchez v. Esso Standard Oil Co.
572 F.3d 1 (First Circuit, 2009)
Stormans, Inc. v. Selecky
586 F.3d 1109 (Ninth Circuit, 2009)
Xochitl Hernandez v. Jefferson Sessions
872 F.3d 976 (Ninth Circuit, 2017)
Department of Homeland Security v. Thuraissigiam
591 U.S. 103 (Supreme Court, 2020)
Stanley v. University of Southern California
13 F.3d 1313 (Ninth Circuit, 1994)
Alliance for Wild Rockies v. Cottrell
632 F.3d 1127 (Ninth Circuit, 2011)
Mark Baird v. Rob Bonta
81 F.4th 1036 (Ninth Circuit, 2023)
Matsumoto v. Labrador
122 F.4th 787 (Ninth Circuit, 2024)
Murillo-Chavez v. Bondi
128 F.4th 1076 (Ninth Circuit, 2025)
Yajure Hurtado
29 I. & N. Dec. 216 (Board of Immigration Appeals, 2025)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Jorge Bautista-Avalos v. Michael Bernacke, et al., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jorge-bautista-avalos-v-michael-bernacke-et-al-nvd-2025.