Mostafa Said v. Kristi Noem, in her official capacity as Secretary of Homeland Security, et al.

CourtDistrict Court, W.D. North Carolina
DecidedDecember 17, 2025
Docket3:25-cv-00938
StatusUnknown

This text of Mostafa Said v. Kristi Noem, in her official capacity as Secretary of Homeland Security, et al. (Mostafa Said v. Kristi Noem, in her official capacity as Secretary of Homeland Security, et al.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. North Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mostafa Said v. Kristi Noem, in her official capacity as Secretary of Homeland Security, et al., (W.D.N.C. 2025).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA CHARLOTTE DIVISION 3:25-cv-00938-MOC

MOSTAFA SAID, ) ) Petitioner, ) ) vs. ) MEMORANDUM OF ) DECISION AND ORDER ) KRISTI NOEM, in her official capacity ) as Secretary of Homeland Security, et al., ) ) Respondents. ) ___________________________________ )

THIS MATTER is before the Court on Petitioner’s Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241 and Complaint for Injunctive and Declaratory Relief [Doc. 1] and Petitioner’s Emergency Motion for Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction [Doc. 3], which the Court considers a motion for preliminary injunctive relief. I. BACKGROUND Petitioner Mostafa Said (“Petitioner”) is a native and citizen of Egypt. He fled Egypt due to persecution and entered the United States on September 9, 2024, without inspection. [Doc. 1 at ¶¶ 1, 15]. Petitioner was apprehended the same day by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. [Doc. 1 at ¶ 15]. On September 10, 2024, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a Notice and Order of Expedited Removal (“Form I-860”) to Petitioner.1 [Doc. 8-1 at 8]. The Form I-860 reflects that Petitioner was then subject to removal because he “w[as] not then admitted or paroled

1 Petitioner, through counsel, refutes ever having received the Form I-860. [Doc. 11-1 at ¶ 3]. The Form I-860, however, reflects having been personally served on the Petitioner by a Border Patrol Agent on September 10, 2024, and is signed by the Petitioner. [See Doc. 8-1 at 8-9]. after inspection by an Immigration Officer.”2 [Doc. 8-1 at 8]. The Order of Removal found that Petitioner was inadmissible and subject to removal under INA § 235(b)(1) [Doc. 8-1 at 8], which is codified as 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(1). On September 20, 2024, Petitioner made a claim for relief from removal. [Doc. 8-1 at 1, ¶ 8: Stephens Dec.]. On October 24, 2024, the DHS made a positive initial determination on

Petitioner’s claim for relief and served a Notice to Appear (NTA) on Petitioner, noted that “You are an alien present in the United States who has not been admitted or paroled;” and placed Petitioner in standard removal proceedings under INA § 240, 8 U.S.C. § 1229a. [Doc. 1-2; Doc. 8-1 at 1, ¶ 9; Doc. 1 at ¶ 17]. The NTA charged Petitioner as being subject to removal under INA § 212(a)(7)(A)(i)(l) because he did not then possess or present a valid immigrant visa, reentry permit, border crossing identification card, or other valid entry document and under § 212(a)(6)(A)(i) because he was an alien present in the United States without being admitted or paroled after inspection by an immigration officer. [Doc. 1-2 at 1]. The NTA ordered Petitioner to appear before an immigration judge on November 7, 2024, in San Diego, California. [Doc. 1-

2 at 1]. On or about November 6, 2024, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) paroled Petitioner under the Alternatives to Detention (ATD-ISAP) program pursuant to its authority under INA § 212(d)(5)(A), 8 U.S.C. § 1182(d)(5)(A). [Doc. 1 at ¶ 18; Doc. 1-3; Doc. 10-1 at 2: Interim Notice Authorizing Parole (“Parole Notice”)]. The Parole Notice provided that the authorization for Petitioner’s parole automatically terminated after one year unless extended at the ICE’s discretion. [Doc. 10-1 at 2].

2 The Form I-860, however, fails to identify the grounds supporting the inadmissibility determination under INA § 212(a). [See Doc. 8-1 at 8]. On November 7, 2024, the Petitioner appeared with his attorney for his initial master calendar hearing and requested a continuance. The Immigration Judge (IJ) granted the continuance and reset the case for December 9, 2024. [Doc. 8-1 at 2, ¶ 10]. On November 25, 2024, the IJ granted a change in venue of Petitioner’s removal proceedings to the Charlotte Immigration Court. [Doc. 8-1 at 15: Order of IJ]. Petitioner was allowed to travel within the United States to Charlotte,

North Carolina. [Doc. 1-3 at 1: ISAP GPS Agreement]. On November 21, 2024, Petitioner filed his Form I-589 asylum application with the Charlotte Immigration Court. [Id. at ¶ 22]. On January 15, 2025, the Charlotte Immigration Court notified Petitioner that his next scheduled master calendar hearing is set for March 18, 2027. [Doc. 8-1 at 17: Notice of In-Person Hearing]. On May 20, 2025, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) granted Petitioner eligibility for employment and issued Petitioner an Employment Authorization Document (EAD), which is valid through May 19, 2030. [Id. at ¶ 23; Doc. 1-4]. Since receiving his EAD, Petitioner has secured lawful employment and lived without incident in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. [Id. at ¶ 24].

On November 21, 2025, during a routine ATD-ISAP check-in, Petitioner was detained by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) in Charlotte, North Carolina, without warning and, under Respondents’ position, without any possibility of a bond hearing.3 [Id. at ¶¶ 27, 29; Doc. 1-7 at ¶ 5]. After Petitioner’s detention on Friday, November 21, 2025, Petitioner for all intents and purposes disappeared for two days. On Monday, the third day, Petitioner resurfaced at the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, with no notice of transfer, its justification, or

3 In Matter of Yajure-Hurtado, 29 I&N Dec. 216 (BIA 2025), the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) held that individuals who entered without inspection are “applicants for admission” subject to mandatory detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A) for the duration of their removal proceedings. 29 I&N at 220. The United States has adopted this position to categorically deny bond eligibility to noncitizens like the Petitioner. information identifying the official custodian. [Doc. 4 at 3; Doc. 3-1 at ¶¶ 3-5: Qutieshat Dec.]. II. PROCEDURAL HISTORY The same day as his detention, Petitioner, through counsel, filed a petition seeking relief from that detention pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241, arguing that his detention violates his Fifth Amendment right to procedural and substantive due process; violates the Immigration and

Nationality Act (INA), §§ 236 and 241, 8 U.S.C. §§ 1225 and 1226; the Administrative Procedures Act (APA), 8 U.S.C. § 1357(a)(2); and the Accardi doctrine; and is barred by judicial estoppel. [See Doc. 1]. For relief, Petitioner seeks a writ of habeas corpus under § 2241 directing Respondents to release him from custody or to provide him with a prompt bond hearing under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), a declaration that Matter of Yajure-Hurtado is unlawful as applied to Petitioner and inconsistent with the INA and the Due Process Clause, and an award of attorney’s fees and costs pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2412. [Doc. 1 at 12]. Petitioner also sought the issuance of a temporary restraining order prohibiting Respondents from removing or transferring

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

Related

Leng May Ma v. Barber
357 U.S. 185 (Supreme Court, 1958)
Preiser v. Rodriguez
411 U.S. 475 (Supreme Court, 1973)
Mathews v. Eldridge
424 U.S. 319 (Supreme Court, 1976)
Reno v. American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
525 U.S. 471 (Supreme Court, 1999)
Hamdi v. Rumsfeld
542 U.S. 507 (Supreme Court, 2004)
United States v. Michael Aaron Little
392 F.3d 671 (Fourth Circuit, 2004)
Zadvydas v. Davis
533 U.S. 678 (Supreme Court, 2001)
Jennings v. Rodriguez
583 U.S. 281 (Supreme Court, 2018)
Biden v. Texas
597 U.S. 785 (Supreme Court, 2022)
Yajure Hurtado
29 I. & N. Dec. 216 (Board of Immigration Appeals, 2025)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Mostafa Said v. Kristi Noem, in her official capacity as Secretary of Homeland Security, et al., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mostafa-said-v-kristi-noem-in-her-official-capacity-as-secretary-of-ncwd-2025.