R.M. v. Warden of the Golden State Annex ICE Detention Facility, et al.

District Court, E.D. California·Decided March 26, 2026·No. 1:25-cv-01607·Unknown

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 R.M., A-240-170-123 No. 1:25-cv-1607 TLN AC 12 Petitioner, 13 v. ORDER AND FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 14 WARDEN OF THE GOLDEN STATE ANNEX ICE DETENTION FACILITY, et 15 al., 16 Respondents. 17 18 Petitioner, an immigration detainee proceeding through counsel, has filed a petition for a 19 writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241. Currently before the court is petitioner’s 20 petition for writ of habeas corpus (ECF No. 1), which respondents oppose (ECF No. 14). 21 I. Factual and Procedural Background 22 Petitioner, a nonbinary citizen of India, arrived at the San Francisco International Airport 23 on a valid non-immigrant visa on April 4, 2025. ECF No. 1 at 5; ECF No. 14-2 at 2; ECF No. 15 24 at 5. Respondents assert that during inspection, petitioner informed Customs and Border Patrol 25 (“CBP”) that they intended to engage in unauthorized employment while in the United States and 26 affirmed the statement under oath. ECF No. 14-2 at 3. CBP then canceled their visa and placed 27 them into expedited removal under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(1). Id.; ECF No. 14-3. Petitioner later 28 expressed fear of being returned to India and had a credible fear hearing, at which petitioner was 1 found to possess a credible fear of persecution. ECF No. 15 at 5. They were then placed in 2 standard removal proceedings under 8 U.S.C. § 1229a. ECF No. 14 at 2-3; ECF No. 15 at 5. On 3 August 14, 2025, petitioner applied for asylum and withholding of removal. ECF No. 15 at 6. 4 Petitioner is being detained under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(1) and has remained in custody since their 5 arrival. ECF No. 1 at 5; ECF No. 14 at 1; ECF No. 15 at 5-6. 6 While detained, petitioner has requested and been denied bond, being deemed statutorily 7 ineligible, and they have been told that “they are not giving any parole to anybody.” ECF No. 1 8 at 7; ECF No. 14 at 6; ECF No. 15 at 16, 20. While awaiting asylum adjudication, petitioner has 9 had at least five master calendar hearings in front of three different judges,1 and their merits 10 hearing has been rescheduled at least twice,2 only once at petitioner’s request so that pro bono 11 counsel could properly prepare. ECF No. 1 at 9; ECF No. 15 at 7. 12 On November 21, 2025, petitioner filed a pro se petition arguing that their continued, 13 indeterminate detention without a bond hearing violates their Fifth Amendment right to due 14 process. ECF No. 1. Petitioner requests relief in the form of a bond hearing, either by this court 15 or the immigration court. Id. at 18-19. Respondent filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that 16 because petitioner is an immigrant “seeking admission” without valid entry documents who has 17 been placed in expedited removal, they are subject to mandatory detention under § 1225(b)(1) and 18 not entitled to any process. ECF No. 14 at 3-5. Respondents also argue that petitioner’s due 19 process rights have not been violated.3 Id. at 6-10. Petitioner, through appointed counsel, filed a 20 1 On at least two occasions, the immigration judge assigned to petitioner’s case was fired by 21 respondent. ECF No. 15 at 7. 2 At the time of briefing, petitioner was set for a merits hearing on February 19, 2026. ECF No. 22 14 at 3; ECF No. 15 at 7. However, the EOIR’s website now reflects that petitioner’s hearing is 23 scheduled for April 21, 2026, before yet another judge. 3 As part of their opposition, respondents argue that petitioner has not exhausted administrative 24 remedies in the immigration system because they have not appealed their bond determination to the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”). ECF No. 14 at 5-6. Yet respondents also argue that 25 petitioner’s detention is “statutorily-compelled” and that petitioner is statutorily “ineligible for a 26 bond.” Id. at 6-7. As petitioner points out, respondents “argue both that Petitioner is not eligible for release through the immigration process and that Petitioner should seek release through the 27 immigration process.” ECF No. 15 at 20-21. It would be unreasonable for the court to require petitioner to pursue what respondents’ own arguments indicate is a futile appeal to the BIA, and 28 (continued) 1 traverse in which they acknowledge that they are detained under § 1225(b)(1), but argue that 2 under the Due Process Clause they have “the right to be free from prolonged detention without 3 any opportunity to seek release from a judge.” ECF No. 15 at 12-20. 4 II. Legal Standards 5 A. Standards for Habeas Corpus 6 A writ of habeas corpus may be granted to anyone who is held in custody in violation of 7 the Constitution or laws or treaties of the United States. 28 U.S.C. § 2241(c)(3); Magana-Pizano 8 v. I.N.S., 200 F.3d 603, 609 (9th Cir. 1999) (“28 U.S.C. § 2241 expressly permits the federal 9 courts to grant writs of habeas corpus to aliens when those aliens are ‘in custody in violation of 10 the Constitution or laws or treaties of the United States.’” (citations omitted)). In federal habeas 11 proceedings, the petitioner is required to prove their case by a preponderance of the evidence. 12 Davis v. Woodford, 384 F.3d 628, 638 (9th Cir. 2004). 13 B. Constitutional Standards 14 The Due Process Clause protects persons in the United States from being “deprived of 15 life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” U.S. Const. amend. V. “[T]he Due Process 16 Clause applies to all ‘persons’ within the United States, including aliens, whether their presence 17 here is lawful, unlawful, temporary, or permanent.” Zadvydas v. Davis, 533 U.S. 678, 693 (2001) 18 (citations omitted). “Freedom from imprisonment—from government custody, detention, or other 19 forms of physical restraint—lies at the heart of the liberty that [the Due Process] Clause protects.” 20 Id. at 690. 21 “The Due Process Clause ‘protects individuals against two types of government action’: 22 violations of substantive due process and procedural due process.” United States v. Quintero, 995 23 F.3d 1044, 1051 (9th Cir. 2021) (citation omitted). The substantive component of the Due 24 Process Clause “forbids the government to infringe certain ‘fundamental’ liberty interests at all, 25 no matter what process is provided, unless the infringement is narrowly tailored to serve a 26

27 the undersigned finds exhaustion in this case is waived. See Laing v. Ashcroft, 370 F.3d 994, 1000 (9th Cir. 2004) (exhaustion can be waived where “pursuit of administrative remedies would 28 be a futile gesture.” (quoting SEC v. G.C. George Sec., Inc., 637 F.2d 685, 688 (9th Cir. 1981))). 1 compelling state interest.” Reno v. Flores, 507 U.S. 292, 302 (1993) (citations omitted).

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R.M. v. Warden of the Golden State Annex ICE Detention Facility, et al., (E.D. Cal. 2026).

R.M. v. Warden of the Golden State Annex ICE Detention Facility, et al. (R.M. v. Warden of the Golden State Annex ICE Detention Facility, et al.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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