Tobar v. Current or Acting Field Office Director, San Francisco Field Office, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement

• Court: District Court, N.D. California
• Decided: December 11, 2024
• Docket: 3:24-cv-08550
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 WALTER APARICIO TOBAR, Case No. 24-cv-08550-SK (PR) A#205411487, 8 Petitioner, ORDER OF TRANSFER 9 v. (ECF Nos. 2 & 3) 10 CURRENT OR ACTING FIELD OFFICE 11 DIRECTOR, et al.,

12 Respondent.

13 I. 14 Petitioner Walter Aparicio Tobar, a citizen of Guatemala, filed a pro se petition for a writ 15 of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 challenging his prolonged detention by the United States 16 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at the Golden State Annex detention center in 17 McFarland, California. 18 II. 19 The federal habeas statute expressly limits the power of district courts to grant habeas writs 20 to “within their respective jurisdictions.” 28 U.S.C. § 2241(a). “The plain language of the habeas 21 statute thus confirms the general rule that for core habeas petitions challenging present physical 22 confinement, jurisdiction lies in only one district: the district of confinement.” Rumsfeld v. 23 Padilla, 542 U.S. 426, 442 (2004). This district-of-confinement rule is a “bright-line rule” that 24 does not contain any exceptions other than the express statutory carveouts in 28 U.S.C §§ 2241(d) 25 and 2255. Id. at 443, 449-50. The Ninth Circuit has affirmed the application of the bright-line 26 district-of-confinement rule to habeas petitions challenging the fact or duration of a sentence under 27 § 2241. See, e.g., Muth v. Fondren, 676 F.3d 815, 818 (9th Cir. 2012) (“§ 2241 petitions must be 1 Cir. 2006) (“§ 2241 petition must be filed in the district where the petitioner is in custody”). And 2 || recently made clear that the rule also applies to habeas petitions challenging immigration 3 || detention. See Doe v. Garland, 109 F.4th 1188, 1199 (9th Cir. 2024) (holding petition by 4 || immigration detainee challenging his detention is a “core habeas petition” and must be filed in the 5 district of confinement under Padilla). 6 Petitioner is detained at the Golden State Annex detention center in McFarland, California 7 || in the County of Kern, which lies within the venue of the Eastern District of California. See 28 8 U.S.C. § 84(b). Under the rationale of Doe v. Garland, jurisdiction/venue for this habeas 9 || challenge to Petitioner’s immigration detention lies only in the Eastern District of California. See 10 109 F.4th at 1199. 11 Il. 12 For the foregoing reasons, the petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 5 13 and motions for leave to proceed in forma pauperis and for appointment of counsel therein (ECF 14 Nos. 2 & 3) are TRANSFERRED to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of 3 || California. 16 The clerk is instructed to transfer this case forthwith. IT IS SO ORDERED. |) Dated: December 10, 2024 f te A : 19 SALLIE KIM 20 United States Magistrate Judge 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28