Editorial
The Great Writ, on the modern docket.
A nationwide chronicle of habeas corpus litigation in U.S. immigration cases — from prolonged mandatory detention to the Alien Enemies Act, from Zadvydas releases to the third-country removal docket, and from the Fifth Circuit to the Supreme Court's shadow rulings.
Eswatini, Uganda, Rwanda, Ghana: The New Third-Country Architecture
A series of bilateral agreements with African nations — Eswatini, Rwanda, Uganda, Ghana — created a new architecture for third-country removals. The U.S. side faces ongoing class litigation; the foreign side has begun to produce its own habeas-equivalent challenges, most notably in the Uganda Law Society’s 2026 court action.
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All articles →Abedi v. Choate: A Twenty-Three-Year Order of Supervision and a Recalcitrant Country
An Iranian national had lived for twenty-three years on supervised release after a 2002 conviction and a final removal order to “any country other than Iran.” Iran is on the recalcitrant-country list and refused travel documents in 2009. The District of Kansas ordered him released.
De Souza-Ferreira v. Decker: When CAT Withholding Meets Indefinite Detention
A Brazilian national who had been granted CAT withholding to Brazil could not be removed there. Government speculation about a third-country resettlement was insufficient under <em>Zadvydas</em> to justify nine months of continued detention. Habeas granted.
D.V.D. v. DHS: A Class Action Against Removal Without Notice or Screening
Judge Brian Murphy certified a nationwide class, declared the Trump administration’s third-country removal policy unlawful, and set the policy aside under the APA. The case is the structural anchor of every challenge to the post-2025 third-country removal architecture.
Buenrostro-Mendez v. Bondi: The Fifth Circuit Sides With the Government on EWI Detention
A divided Fifth Circuit panel held that all noncitizens present without admission — regardless of length of residence or community ties — are “applicants for admission” subject to mandatory § 1225(b)(2) detention. The decision reverses two district-court habeas grants and creates the cleanest possible circuit split on the central detention question of the 2025 enforcement era.
Khalil v. Joyce: A Habeas Win, A Third Circuit Reversal, and the “Zipper Clause” Question
A Columbia graduate and lawful permanent resident was arrested by ICE on the basis of pro-Palestinian organizing and held in Louisiana. The District of New Jersey ordered him released on bail. The Third Circuit reversed on jurisdictional grounds, holding 8 U.S.C. § 1252(b)(9) channeled the constitutional challenges into the petition-for-review process.
The Habeas Surge of 2025: Eight Thousand Petitions and a Ninety-Seven-Percent Win Rate
Federal § 2241 immigration habeas filings rose roughly thirty-six-fold between 2024 and 2025, from approximately 222 to approximately 8,000. The reported district-court win rate was approximately 97 percent. This essay surveys the structural causes, the doctrinal landscape, and what the surge means for habeas practice going forward.
J.G.G. v. Trump: Constructive Custody, Contempt, and the Return of the CECOT Class
Chief Judge Boasberg held that the United States retains “constructive custody” over migrants delivered to El Salvador’s CECOT prison at U.S. direction and ordered the government to either return them or provide them with the due process they were denied. The opinion is the most ambitious habeas remedy yet attempted against an extraterritorial removal.
Maldonado Bautista v. Santacruz: A Nationwide Class Restores Bond Eligibility for EWI Detainees
Judge Sunshine Sykes certified a nationwide class and entered final judgment rejecting the Trump administration's recategorization of long-resident EWI noncitizens as “applicants for admission” subject to mandatory § 1225(b)(2) detention. The ruling restored bond eligibility — until the Fifth Circuit said otherwise.
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The Alien Enemies Act
The 1798 wartime statute, dormant for eighty years, was invoked in March 2025 against Venezuelan nationals alleged to be members of Tren de Aragua. The litigation that followed is now the most consequential habeas docket in the country.
9 articlesPre-Removal Detention
Habeas challenges to civil immigration detention before a final order of removal — mandatory detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(c), discretionary custody under § 1226(a), and the contested reach of § 1225(b)(2) following the BIA's 2025 reclassification of long-resident noncitizens as "applicants for admission."
7 articlesPost-Removal Detention
The Zadvydas docket: petitions seeking release from detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1231(a)(6) when removal is not significantly likely in the reasonably foreseeable future. With the 2025 enforcement push, this corner of the law is busier than it has been in two decades.
6 articlesThird-Country Removal
Litigation over the practice of removing noncitizens to countries other than their country of citizenship — South Sudan, Eswatini, Uganda, El Salvador's CECOT — and the procedural protections owed before such removals occur.
5 articlesFirst Amendment Detentions
The 2025 wave of habeas petitions filed by green-card holders, student-visa holders, and academics arrested by ICE for speech and political association — from Mahmoud Khalil at Columbia to Rumeysa Ozturk at Tufts.
5 articlesProcedural & Doctrinal Pivots
The structural rulings that govern the immigration habeas docket: jurisdiction and venue, the "zipper clause," class certification, EAJA fee shifting, and the BIA precedent decisions that triggered a nationwide surge in § 2241 filings.
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