Mina Milad Ghali Ayad v. Kevin Raycraft et al.

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN SOUTHERN DIVISION MINA MILAD GHALI AYAD, Petitioner, Case No. 25-14132 Honorable Shalina D. Kumar v. Magistrate Judge Curtis Ivy, Jr. KEVIN RAYCRAFT et al., Respondents. ORDER TRANSFERRING PETITION FOR WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS (ECF NO. 1)

Petitioner Mina Milad Ghali Ayad (“Ayad” or “Petitioner”) filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241, alleging that he is being unlawfully detained by the Respondents at the North Lake

Processing Center in Baldwin, Michigan in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act and the Due Process clause of the Fifth Amendment. See generally, ECF No. 1.

For habeas actions seeking, at least in part, immediate release from physical confinement, “jurisdiction lies only in one district: the district of confinement.” Trump v. J.G.G., 604 U.S. 670, 672 (2025) (quoting Rumsfeld v. Padilla, 542 U.S. 426, 443 (2004)). Petitioner Ayad is confined

Page 1 of 3 at North Lake Correctional Facility in Lake County, Michigan. Lake County is within the Western District of Michigan.

Courts consider the district-of-confinement-rule to be a question of venue. See id. (holding that venue is improper outside district of confinement); see also Padilla, 542 U.S. at 451 (Kennedy, J. concurring).

Section 1406(a) of Title 28 of the United States Code provides two options for a court concluding that venue in improper: it shall dismiss the case for being filed in the wrong district, “or if it be in the interest of justice,” it may transfer the case to the district where venue is proper. 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a).

Here, the interest of justice requires transfer rather than dismissal. Dismissal of the action would cause Petitioner to incur the additional expense of filing the same habeas petition in the Western District, and,

more importantly, would delay the possibility of his release. See Aguilar v. Dunbar, 2025 WL 3281540, at *8, ___ F. Supp. 3d ___ (E.D. Mich. Nov. 13, 2025). Indeed, dismissal in lieu of transfer may constitute an abuse of discretion, where, as here, the circumstances known to the court

demonstrate that a transfer would be in the interest of justice. Id. at *9. Accordingly, the Court will transfer Ayad’s petition to the Western District of Michigan.

Page 2 of 3 Accordingly, the Clerk of the Court is DIRECTED to TRANSFER Ayad’s petition for writ of habeas corpus (ECF No. 1) to the Western

District of Michigan. IT IS SO ORDERED.

s/ Shalina D. Kumar SHALINA D. KUMAR Dated: December 24, 2025 United States District Judge

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