Vladimir Matcharashvili v. Kristi Noem, Secretary, Department of Homeland Security; and Mary De Anda Ybarra, Director, El Paso Field Office, Immigration and Customs Enforcement

CourtDistrict Court, D. New Mexico
DecidedMarch 26, 2026
Docket1:26-cv-00180
StatusUnknown

This text of Vladimir Matcharashvili v. Kristi Noem, Secretary, Department of Homeland Security; and Mary De Anda Ybarra, Director, El Paso Field Office, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Vladimir Matcharashvili v. Kristi Noem, Secretary, Department of Homeland Security; and Mary De Anda Ybarra, Director, El Paso Field Office, Immigration and Customs Enforcement) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. New Mexico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Vladimir Matcharashvili v. Kristi Noem, Secretary, Department of Homeland Security; and Mary De Anda Ybarra, Director, El Paso Field Office, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, (D.N.M. 2026).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF NEW MEXICO

VLADIMIR MATCHARASHVILI (A216 972 625),

Petitioner, v. Civ. No. 26-180 JB/GJF

KRISTI NOEM, Secretary, Department of Homeland Security; and MARY DE ANDA YBARRA, Director, El Paso Field Office, Immigration and Customs Enforcement,

Respondents.

PROPOSED FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDED DISPOSITION ON PETITION FOR WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS AND COMPLAINT FOR EMERGENCY INJUNCTIVE RELIEF (DKT. NO. 1)

THIS MATTER is before the Court on the Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus and Complaint for Emergency Injunctive Relief (Dkt. No. 1) (“Petition”) filed by Petitioner Vladimir Matcharashvili, (“Petitioner”).1 Respondents Krisi Noem, now former Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) and Mary De Anda Ybarra, the Field Office Director of the El Paso Field Office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”), sued in their official capacities, responded to the Petition. Resp., Dkt. No. 7. Petitioner thereafter replied. Reply, Dkt. No. 8. Having reviewed the Petition, the briefs in support and opposition, the evidence, and the law, the Court recommends that the Petition be granted as to both causes of action and that the relief requested by Petitioner be granted in part and denied in part as described herein. I. INTRODUCTION This case is one of hundreds of § 2241 habeas cases brought in this District and one of thousands brought in districts across the nation stemming from a new interpretation of the

1 The undersigned files this Proposed Findings and Recommended Disposition (“PFRD”) pursuant to the presiding judge’s Order of Reference (Dkt. No. 3). Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”), 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A), by the United States Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”). Previously, from 1997 to 2025, through successive presidential administrations, when ICE officers detained noncitizens2 within the interior of the United States who did not have a pending order of removal, DHS detained them under 8 U.S.C. § 1226. Buenrostro-Mendez v. Bondi, 166 F.4th 494, 500 (5th Cir. 2026). On July 8, 2025, however,

DHS issued new interim guidance that all noncitizens who enter the country without being admitted or who arrive without proper documentation are subject to mandatory detention, regardless of their length of residency in the country, unless they are paroled under INA § 212(d)(5). See id. The Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) considered this new policy interpretation in Matter of Yajure Hurtado, 29 I&N Dec. 216 (BIA Sept. 5, 2025). The BIA held that the plain language of 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A) deprived immigration judges of authority to hear bond requests or to grant bonds to aliens who are present in the United States without admission. Id. at 225.3 Yajure Hurtado had crossed into the United States without inspection in 2022, lived in the

United States for years, was granted temporary protected status in 2024 by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”), but was arrested after that status expired. Id. at 216-17. The BIA concluded that “[a]liens, like respondent, who surreptitiously cross into the United States remain applicants for admission until and unless they are lawfully inspected and admitted by an immigration officer.” Id. at 228. “Remaining in the United States for a lengthy

2 The INA defines an “alien” as “any person not a citizen or national of the United States.” 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(3). The Court uses “alien” and “noncitizen” interchangeably in this PFRD.

3 This opinion is called a “precedential” opinion, which in this context means a decision identified by the BIA as binding authority on U.S. immigration courts. The Supreme Court recently directed district courts that they “must exercise independent judgment in determining the meaning of statutory provisions.” Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, 603 U.S. 369, 394 (2024). Courts “may not defer to an agency interpretation of the law simply because a statute is ambiguous.” Id. at 413. Consequently, while binding on the immigration courts, Yajure Hurtado is not binding on this Court. period of time following entry without inspection, by itself, does not constitution an ‘admission.’” Id. The BIA considered significant the history and passage of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (“IIRIRA”), which substituted the term “admission” for “entry” and replaced deportation and exclusion proceedings with removal proceedings. Id. at 222-

23. As the BIA explained, Congress enacted the IIRIRA to remedy the unintended consequence of having created a statutory scheme where aliens who enter without inspection could take advantage of greater procedural and substantive rights afforded in deportation proceedings, while aliens who presented themselves at the border were limited to more summary exclusion proceedings. Id. at 223 (quoting Martinez v. Attorney General of U.S., 693 F.3d 408, 413 n.5 (3d Cir. 2012)). Consequently, according to the BIA, aliens who enter without inspection or admission are “applicants for admission,” id. at 224, regardless how long they have lived here, until an immigration officer determines that they are “clearly and beyond a doubt entitled to be admitted,” id. at 228 (quoting 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A)). Immigration judges, following Yajure Hurtado, have

concluded that they lack jurisdiction to hold bond hearings for aliens detained under § 1225(b)(2)(A). For their part, Respondents contend that Petitioner is properly detained under § 1225(b)(2)(A) because he was present in the United States without being admitted or paroled. But Petitioner urges the Court to follow the vast majority of district courts and find that he may only be detained under § 1226, which entitles him to a bond hearing. For the following reasons, the Court recommends concluding that § 1225(b)(2)(A) does not apply to Petitioner, and that Respondents violated the INA and the Due Process Clause when subjecting him to mandatory detention for over two months without a bond hearing. II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND4 Petitioner is a citizen of Georgia with no criminal history. Petition ¶¶ 2-3, 18, Dkt. No. 1. He has been present in the United States for “several years.” Id. ¶ 2. He previously submitted an application for asylum before the New York Immigration Court and was scheduled for a final hearing on July 27, 2026. Id.

ICE agents took Petitioner into custody in early January while he was working as a truck driver in Minneapolis, Minnesota. See id. ¶ 5. Petitioner is presently detained by ICE at the Cibola County Correctional Center in New Mexico. Id. ¶¶ 1, 6. III. PROCEDURAL HISTORY On January 27, 2026, Mr. Matcharashvili filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus and Complaint for Emergency Injunctive Relief (Dkt. No. 1) under 28 U.S.C. § 2241; the Declaratory Judgments Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2201, et seq.; 28 U.S.C. § 1361; the All Writs Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1651

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Vladimir Matcharashvili v. Kristi Noem, Secretary, Department of Homeland Security; and Mary De Anda Ybarra, Director, El Paso Field Office, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/vladimir-matcharashvili-v-kristi-noem-secretary-department-of-homeland-nmd-2026.