Segundo Morocho Morocho v. Steve Kelley et al.

District Court, W.D. Oklahoma·Decided December 22, 2025·No. 5:25-cv-01247·Unknown

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF OKLAHOMA

SEGUNDO MOROCHO MOROCHO, ) ) Petitioner, ) ) v. ) Case No. CIV-25-1247-R ) STEVE KELLEY et al., ) ) Respondents. ) )

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

Petitioner Segundo Morocho Morocho, a noncitizen,1 seeks a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241. (ECF No. 1). United States District Judge David L. Russell referred the case to the undersigned magistrate judge for initial proceedings under 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B), (C). Respondents filed a response and Petitioner replied. (ECF No. 13 & 14). For the reasons below, the undersigned recommends the Court grant Petitioner’s habeas petition, in part, and order Respondents to bring Petitioner before an immigration judge (IJ) for a bond hearing under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) within seven business days or otherwise release Petitioner if he has not received a lawful bond hearing within that period.

1 This Report and Recommendation “uses the term ‘noncitizen’ as equivalent to the statutory term ‘alien.’” 590 U.S. 573, 578 n.2 (2020) (citing 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(3)). I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY Petitioner is a citizen of Ecuador2 who is married to a United States citizen, and has one child who is a United States citizen, and has another child on the way. (ECF No. 1:4-5). Petitioner entered the United States in 2006, at age sixteen, and has lived in Chicago, Illinois for the past ten years. (ECF No. 1:2, 6). On October 14, 2025, officers

with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested Petitioner, and are detaining him without bond at the Kay County Detention Center in Newkirk, Oklahoma. (ECF No. 1:4). ICE issued a notice to appear (NTA) to Petitioner, charging him as inadmissible under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(A). (ECF No. 1:6); § 1182(a)(6)(A)(i) (“An alien present in the United States without being admitted or paroled, or who arrives in the United States

at any time or place other than as designated by the Attorney General, is inadmissible.”). II. PETITIONER’S CLAIMS Petitioner raises two grounds for relief: Ground One: Respondents’ “[t]he unlawful application of § 1225(b)(2) to Petitioner violates the [Immigration and Nationality Act] INA.”

Ground Two: Respondents’ detention of Petitioner without a bond redetermination hearing is unconstitutional and in violation of his due process rights.

(ECF No. 1:20-23).

2 Petitioner’s counsel stated that her client was a native of Mexico, ECF No. 1:5, but Respondent has submitted evidence otherwise. ECF No. 13-1:2. The undersigned has confirmed Petitioner’s citizenship as belonging to Ecuador, not Mexico. https://acis.eoir.justice.gov/en/casInformation (last visited Dec. 16, 2025). Petitioner asks the Court to issue a writ of habeas corpus “order[ing] Respondents to immediately release Petitioner from custody,” or, in the alternative, “[o]rder Respondents to provide Petitioner with a bond hearing within seven days . . .” Petitioner also seeks an award of attorney’s fees and costs (ECF No. 1:24). III. STANDARD OF REVIEW

An application for a writ of habeas corpus “is an attack by a person in custody upon the legality of that custody, and . . . the traditional function of the writ is to secure release from illegal custody.” , 411 U.S. 475, 484 (1973). Habeas corpus relief is warranted only if the petitioner “is in custody in violation of the Constitution or laws or treaties of the United States.” 28 U.S.C. § 2241(c)(3). “Challenges to immigration detention are properly brought directly through habeas.”

388 F.3d 1305, 1310 (10th Cir. 2004) (citing 533 U.S. 678, 687 (2001)). “When called on to resolve a dispute over a statute’s meaning,” the Court should “seek[] to afford the [statute’s] terms their ordinary meaning at the time Congress adopted them” and to “exhaust all the textual and structural clues bearing on the meaning.” , 593 U.S. 155, 162 (2021) (internal quotation marks

omitted). This Court’s “‘sole function’ is to apply the law as [the Court] finds it, . . . not defer to some conflicting reading the government might advance.” . (internal citation omitted); , 107 F.4th 1209, 1222 n.11 (10th Cir. 2024) (stating that the court “must independently interpret the statutory phrase irrespective of the parties’ positions”), , 145 S. Ct. 2837 (2025). IV. ANALYSIS The Court should: (1) find jurisdiction over the Petition; (2) grant the Petition, in part, and order Respondents to provide Petitioner with a bond hearing under § 1226(a)

within seven days of the Court’s adoption of this Report and Recommendation or in the alternative, immediately release Petitioner; and (3) decline to address Petitioner’s remaining claim. A. The Court has Jurisdiction to Consider the Petition. Respondents contend that 8 U.S.C. §§ 1252(a)(5), (b)(9), and 1252(g) bar the Court from hearing Petitioner’s claims related to his detention. (ECF No. 13:17-20). The

undersigned disagrees. Section 1252(a)(5) provides that “a petition for review filed with an appropriate court of appeals . . . shall be the sole and exclusive means for judicial review of an order of removal.” 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(5). Section 1252(b)(9) provides another bar to judicial review, specifically for “questions of law and fact, including interpretation and application of constitutional and statutory provisions, arising from any action taken or proceeding

brought to remove an alien from the United States” “[e]xcept as otherwise provided in this section.” § 1252(b)(9). Section 1252(b)(9) is a “jurisdiction-stripping ‘zipper clause,’” which “channel[s] review of all ‘decisions and actions leading up to or consequent upon final orders of deportation’ in the courts of appeal, following issuance of an order of removal.” , 67 F.4th 1113, 1115 (10th Cir. 2023) (quoting , 525 U.S. 471, 482-85 (1999)). Section 1252(g) provides that “no court shall have jurisdiction to hear any cause or claim by or on behalf of any alien arising from the decision or action by the Attorney General to commence proceedings, adjudicate cases, or execute removal orders.” 8

U.S.C. § 1252(g). The Court reads § 1252(g) narrowly, , 525 U.S. at 482, as it does not cover “all claims arising from deportation proceedings” or impose “a general jurisdictional limitation.” Instead, it “applies only to three discrete actions that the Attorney General may take: her ‘decision or action’ to ‘ proceedings, cases, or removal orders.’” The Court has jurisdiction over the petition as Petitioner is only challenging the

way his detention is being conducted — the lack of bond hearing. 457 F.3d 1117, 1131 (10th Cir.

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