The petitioner filed a habeas petition seeking immediate release or a bond hearing before an Immigration Judge. He argued that his continued detention posed a risk to his health and safety and that his prolonged detention violated due process. The court rejected the petitioner's risk to health and safety argument on the grounds that the petitioner did not fall into any category of population that the CDC had identified of potentially being at higher risk for serious illness from COVID-19 and did not show that he was otherwise vulnerable. The court also observed that the petitioner's place of detention had taken adequate measures to prevent a possible outbreak. On the prolonged detention argument, the court noted that the petitioner himself had created much of the delay in his removal proceedings by seeking multiple continuances. Since the petitioner failed to suggest that that the government has unreasonably delayed his removal proceedings, the court rejected the second argument as well and denied the petition.
Bataineh v. Lundgren, No. 5:20-cv-03132-JWL, 2020 WL 3572597 (D. Kan. July 1, 2020)
DETAILS
Decision
Date
7/1/2020
Practice Area
Immigration
Relief Requested
Bond Hearing, Release
Type of Court
Federal District Court
Location
Kansas
Type of Case
Individual
Case Characteristics
Immigrant Detention, Pre-Existing Health Conditions
Release Granted
No
Compassionate Release Case
No
Case Tracking Number
5:20-cv-03132-JWL
MORE CASE INFORMATION
Court Name
D. Kan.
Decision
Motion Denied
Place of Incarceration
Immigrant Detention
Name of Facility
Chase County Jail
Legal Authority
Fifth Amendment - Prolonged Detention, Procedural Due Process (both 14th and 5th Amendments), Substantive Due Process - Punitive Detention (both 14th and 5th Amendments)
Legal Authority
Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), § 2241 Habeas
Convictions
The petitioner had a "manufacture/deliver cannabis" state conviction.
Case Status
Decision Made
Pre-Existing Health Conditions
Anxiety, Depression, High Cholesterol, Obesity, Other, Colorectal bleeding
COVID-19 Positive or Symptomatic
No
COVID-19 in Jail Prison or Detention Center
No
Litigation Database
Crowdsourced legal documents from around the country related to COVID-19 and incarceration, organized, collected, and summarized for public defenders, litigators, and other advocates. Created and managed by Bronx Defenders, Columbia Law School’s Center for Institutional and Social Change, UCLA Law COVID-19 Behind Bars Data Project, and Zealous. Mostly federal court opinions, but now expanding to states and legal filings, declarations, and exhibits.
This resource is designed to help lawyers, advocates, researchers, journalists, and others interested in challenging, remedying, or drawing attention to the grave risk that Covid-19 poses to individuals who are detained.