The Tenth Circuit has reversed the denial of habeas relief for a long-term Oklahoma resident detained for over eight months without a bond hearing after the government reinterpreted 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A) to apply to unadmitted noncitizens arrested anywhere in the country, departing from nearly thirty years of contrary practice. The petitioner, married to a lawful permanent resident and stepfather to a U.S. citizen, has no criminal history apart from a single DUI.
Joining the Second, Sixth, and Eleventh Circuits and splitting from the Fifth and Eighth, the Court held that the statutory phrase "seeking admission" independently limits § 1225(b)(2)(A) to noncitizens at the border, since a person who has already entered the country can no longer be said to have an ongoing, present request for admission pending. The Court also found that reading § 1225(b)(2)(A) to reach the interior would render portions of § 1226(c) superfluous and would raise serious constitutional concerns under the doctrine of constitutional avoidance. The petitioner remains detainable under § 1226(a), which requires a bond hearing.
The full text of Santillan Quiroz v. Mullin can be found here: https://www.ca10.uscourts.gov/sites/ca10/files/opinions/010111461009.pdf