Rasul Tagirov v. Todd Blanche, et al.

District Court, W.D. Oklahoma·Decided July 9, 2026·No. 5:26-cv-00003·Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF OKLAHOMA RASUL TAGIROV, ) ) Petitioner, ) ) v. ) Case No. CIV-26-3-JD ) TODD BLANCHE, et al., ) ) Respondents.1 ) REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION Petitioner Rasul Tagirov, a noncitizen2 and Kyrgyzstani national proceeding with counsel, filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus (“Petition”), Doc. 1, challenging under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 his detention by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”). United States District Judge Jodi W. Dishman referred this matter to the undersigned Magistrate Judge in accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B)-(C). The undersigned ordered Petitioner to cure deficiencies in his initial petition, and Petitioner timely filed an Amended Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus (“Amended Petition”), Doc. 7. The undersigned then set an expedited briefing schedule, Doc. 11, and the Amended Petition is at issue. For the reasons set forth below, the undersigned recommends that the Court deny the Amended Petition, Doc. 7.

1 David Venturella was announced as Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on June 1, 2026. He replaces Todd Lyons and is substituted as the proper respondent pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 25(d). 2 Unless quoting, this Report and Recommendation “uses the term ‘noncitizen’ as equivalent to the statutory term ‘alien.’” Nasrallah v. Barr, 590 U.S. 573, 578 n.2 (2020) (citing 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(3)). I. Factual and Procedural Background Petitioner, a native of Kyrgyzstan and citizen of Russia, entered the United States on February 8, 2017. Amended Pet. at 15; Doc. 16-1 at 1 (Notice to Appear).3 Petitioner

alleges that shortly thereafter, ICE initiated removal proceedings against him and issued him a Notice to Appear. Amended Pet. at 15; Resp. at 19. While those proceedings were pending, Petitioner filed an Asylum Application. Amended Pet. at 15; Resp. at 19; Doc. 28 at 14 (Acknowledgement of Receipt of Petitioner’s Asylum Application). Although the record is unclear on this point, Petitioner appears to have been released upon his own

recognizance pursuant to § 1226(a) during the pendency of these early immigration proceedings.4

3 Page citations reference the Court’s ECF pagination. 4 In his Amended Petition, the sentence containing Petitioner’s allegations regarding his initial interactions with immigration authorities is incomplete. It reads in full: “Soon after, Respondents initiated removal proceedings against Petitioner under 8 U.S.C. § 1229a and filed his Notice to Appear with the[.]” Amended Pet. at 15. The referenced Notice to Appear is not included as an exhibit to any of the filings in this matter, and Respondents relied on Petitioner’s factual allegations in his Amended Petition in their own statement of facts. See Resp. at 19 (citing Petitioner’s Amended Petition in relaying the facts of his case). The haziness surrounding Petitioner’s original interactions with ICE is compounded by his Application for a Temporary Restraining Order, in which he alleges that he “arriv[ed] in this country in 2023.” Doc. 8 at 8. Petitioner later withdrew his Application for a Temporary Restraining Order; in his Notice of Withdrawal he explained that the Application contained “template text and factual references that are not part of [his] case.” Doc. 29 at 1. Among those erroneous factual references, the Notice of Withdrawal averred, were allegations regarding a “prior release on recognizance in 2017 followed by a later ‘re- detention’ requiring a changed-circumstances analysis.” Id. at 1-2. Instead, Petitioner claimed, the “corrected record” should reflect he “lived openly in the United States for approximately eight years before ICE first detained him in Oklahoma on or about November 17, 2025” and he “was not apprehended at a border or port of entry.” Id. at 2 (emphasis added). However, while this statement of Petitioner’s circumstances directly On or about November 19, 2025, ICE apprehended Petitioner.5 Amended Pet. at 15; Resp. at 19. Also on or about November 19, 2025, ICE placed Petitioner into removal

proceedings before the Immigration Court pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1229a and charged him with being inadmissible under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(A)(i) as someone who entered the United States without inspection. Amended Pet. at 15; Resp. at 19; Doc. 16-1 at 1. At some point thereafter, Petitioner filed an updated Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal. Amended Pet. at 15; Doc. 16-2 (confirming Petitioner’s Asylum

Application). Respondents allege Petitioner is detained pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A). Resp. at 10. Sometime after he was detained, Petitioner was denied a bond hearing by an Immigration Judge (“IJ”) because all IJs are subject to the binding precedent of Matter of Yajure Hurtado, 29 I & N Dec. 216 (BIA 2025), which holds that those who entered the

country without admission or parole are ineligible for a bond hearing. Resp. at 19. On December 29, 2025, the IJ denied Petitioner’s counseled “request for bond

conflicts with the allegations in his Amended Petition, he expressly disclaimed an intention to withdraw any aspect of his Amended Petition. See id. at 2 (“This Notice does not withdraw the pending Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus . . . .”). However, because § 1226(a) governs Petitioner’s current detention regardless of whether he was previously detained and then released upon his own recognizance in 2017 or encountered by ICE for the first time on or about November 17, 2025, see Santillan Quiroz v. Mullin, --- F.4th ---, No. 26-6019, 2026 WL 1876709, at *5 (10th Cir. June 30, 2026), the undersigned declines to resolve this factual ambiguity. 5 Petitioner’s allegations are inconsistent on this point, as well. Petitioner alleges in his Amended Petition he was arrested by ICE “on or around November 19, 2025,” Amended Pet. at 15, but claims in his Notice of Withdrawal “ICE first detained him in Oklahoma on or about November 17, 2025.” Doc. 29 at 2. ICE issued Petitioner a Notice to Appear on November 19, 2025. Doc. 16-1 at 1. redetermination” on the basis that the IJ lacked jurisdiction and, in the alternative, that Petitioner posed a “flight risk.” Amended Pet. at 15-16; Resp. at 19.

Thereafter, a Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus was filed on Petitioner’s behalf in this Court. Doc. 1. Because the petition was filed by an individual purporting to be acting as Petitioner’s “next friend” pursuant to Whitmore v. Arkansas, 495 U.S. 149 (1990), but who did not meet the stringent requirements for next friend standing, the undersigned ordered Petitioner to file an amended petition. Doc. 5. Petitioner did so, filing a pro se Amended Petition on January 27, 2026. Doc. 7. The undersigned ordered a Response,

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