Kostelanetz LLP attorneys Christopher M. Ferguson, Caroline Rule, Ian Buksunksi, and Yelena Niazyan, along with paralegals Lasya Ravulapati and Samuel Tadmiri, recently secured the release of two immigrants, both of whom were in the process of seeking lawful status when they were arrested by ICE in New York City and detained for months at a DHS detention center in New Jersey.
Kostelanetz filed two separate petitions for writs of habeas corpus on behalf of the pro bono clients in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey on the grounds that their continued detention without a bond hearing violated federal law.
In each case, the district court held that the Government had unlawfully detained the petitioner under 8 U.S.C. ยง 1225(b)(2), which allows detention of aliens without bond in limited circumstances at the time of entering the U.S.
Both courts initially ordered the government to schedule an individualized bond hearing in immigration court, as required by 8 U.S.C. 1226(a), which applies to aliens who are already in the U.S. but facing removal proceedings. After determining that the Government failed to conduct individualized bond hearings as previously ordered, both courts ordered that the clients be immediately released from custody.