Soriano Chavez v. BlancheSoriano Chavez v. Blanche
MEMORANDUM OPINION
This matter comes before the Court on Petitioner Jose Santos Soriano Chavez‘s (Petitioner) Amended Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus under
For the reasons articulated below, the Court will grant the Amended Petition. (ECF No. 4.) The Court will order Respondents to provide Mr. Soriano Chavez with a bond hearing under
I. Factual and Procedural Background
A. Factual Background3
B. Procedural Background
On July 21, 2026, Mr. Soriano Chavez filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus under
The Court incorporates the parties’ merits briefing in Duarte Escobar into the record. See Duarte Escobar, No. 3:25-cv-758 (MHL), ECF Nos. 16, 18, 19, 20 (E.D. Va. 2025). The Court also dispenses with any further briefing by the parties.
II. Standard of Review
III. Analysis
The central question posed in Mr. Soriano Chavez‘s Amended Petition is whether he is entitled to a discretionary bond hearing under
A. The Court Has Jurisdiction Over the Amended Petition
As a threshold matter, this Court has jurisdiction to consider the Amended Petition. Respondents argue that the Court lacks subject-matter jurisdiction over the Amended Petition because two provisions of the INA strip the Court of jurisdiction over the Amended Petition:
B. Mr. Soriano Chavez is Entitled to a Bond Hearing Pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1226
With respect to the substance of Petitioner‘s claim, Mr. Soriano Chavez contends that his detention is governed by the discretionary detention provisions of § 1226 rather than the mandatory detention provisions in
For the reasons stated by this Court in Duarte Escobar, as well as the dozens of other decisions issued by courts in this District on the same issue, this Court concludes that Petitioner‘s detention is governed by
Mr. Soriano Chavez has been present in the United States since 2010. (See ECF No. 4 ¶ 23.) He is thus not an applicant for admission subject to the mandatory detention provisions of § 1225 but rather falls within the discretionary detention provisions of
C. Mr. Soriano Chavez‘s Fifth Amendment Due Process Rights Have Been Violated
Finally, Petitioner argues that his detention without a bond hearing violates his due process rights under the Fifth Amendment‘s Due Process Clause. (ECF No. 4 ¶¶ 33-41, 46-48.) Respondents contend that Petitioner‘s due process rights are governed only by the INA, rather than the Fifth Amendment‘s Due Process Clause, and that even if Petitioner is subject to the Fifth Amendment‘s due process protections, denying him a bond hearing does not violate his constitutional rights.
D. The Court Will Order Respondents to Provide Mr. Soriano Chavez with a Bond Hearing During Which Respondents Bear the Burden of Proof
In their response as incorporated from the briefing in Duarte Escobar, Respondents assert that the only appropriate remedy for Petitioner‘s unlawful detention would be a bond hearing, and that at a bond hearing, Mr. Soriano Chavez should bear the burden of establishing whether he is a flight risk or poses a risk of danger. (Duarte Escobar, ECF No. 18, at 28-29.)
For three reasons, the Court will order Respondents to provide Mr. Soriano Chavez with a bond hearing rather than immediate release. But the Court will require Respondents to bear the burden of proof at that bond hearing.
First, ordering a bond hearing allows the Court to tailor its remedy to the specific injury alleged by Mr. Soriano Chavez: deprivation of his access to a bond hearing. Avelar Ramos, 2026 WL 614875, at *5. Second, providing Mr. Soriano Chavez with a bond hearing aligns with the INA‘s statutory scheme, through which Congress and DHS, in enacting § 1226 and promulgating its implementing regulations, have determined that an Immigration Judge is best situated to make a determination about whether an alien is a potential danger to the community or is a flight risk. Id. at *6. And third, the circumstances in which district courts within the jurisdiction of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit have ordered immediate release instead of a bond hearing do not exist here. Id. For example, this Court has neither been confronted with petitioners who have been detained, released, and re-detained by immigration officials, nor with evidence of Respondents’ failure to comply with this Court‘s orders. See id. The Court will therefore order Respondents to provide Petitioner with a bond hearing rather than order his immediate release.
IV. Conclusion
For the reasons articulated above, the Court will grant Mr. Soriano Chavez‘s Amended Petition, (ECF No. 4), and order that he be provided a bond hearing with an Immigration Judge pursuant to
An appropriate Order shall issue.
Date: 8/5/26
Richmond, Virginia
M. Hannah Lauck
Chief United States District Judge
Notes
No person shall . . . be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law.
(a) Arrest, detention, and release
On a warrant issued by the Attorney General, an alien may be arrested and detained pending a decision on whether the alien is to be removed from the United States. Except as provided in subsection (c) and pending such decision, the Attorney General—
(1) may continue to detain the arrested alien; and
(2) may release the alien on—
(A) bond of at least $1,500 with security approved by, and containing conditions prescribed by, the Attorney General; or
(B) conditional parole.
(b) Inspection of applicants for admission
(2) Inspection of other aliens
(A) In general
Subject to subparagraphs (B) and (C), in the case of an alien who is an applicant for admission, if the examining immigration officer determines that an alien seeking admission is not clearly and beyond a doubt entitled to be admitted, the alien shall be detained for a proceeding under section 1229a of this title.
In addition, dozens of courts in the Eastern District of Virginia (including this Court) have rejected Respondents’ position on eminently sound bases. See Velasquez v. Noem, No. 3:25-cv-998 (MHL), 2026 WL 279226, at *4 n.14 (E.D. Va. Feb. 3, 2026) (collecting thirty cases rejecting Respondents’ argument in this District alone).
A small minority of district courts have accepted Respondents’ arguments. See, e.g., Chavez v. Noem, 801 F. Supp. 3d 1133, 1140-41 (S.D. Cal. 2025); Vargas Lopez v. Trump, 802 F. Supp. 3d 1132, 1140-43 (D. Neb. 2025). These decisions do not alter this Court‘s determination.
Recently, the United States Courts of Appeals for the Fifth and Eighth Circuits joined the courts that are in the minority. Buenrostro-Mendez v. Bondi, 166 F.4th 494 (5th Cir. 2026); Avila v. Bondi, 170 F.4th 1128 (8th Cir. 2026). These decisions are not binding here. CASA de Maryland, Inc. v. Trump, 971 F.3d 220, 260 (4th Cir. 2020). Moreover, the Court is unpersuaded by their reasoning for many of the reasons cogently set forth in Judge Douglas’ dissent in Buenrostro-Mendez, which explains that the majority‘s interpretation risks rendering substantial portions of the statutory scheme superfluous and internally inconsistent. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit recently heard oral argument concerning the applicability to § 1225 to detainees like Petitioner. See Lopez Garcia v. Guadian, No. 25-7044, ECF No. 60 (4th Cir. May 5, 2026). Until the Fourth Circuit issues a contrary decision, this Court will continue to reject Respondents’ arguments.
On September 5, 2025, the BIA released a precedential decision in Matter of Yajure Hurtado in line with Acting Director Lyons’ memorandum. Pursuant to the BIA‘s decision in Hurtado, nearly all noncitizens who entered the United States without inspection are now subject to mandatory detention pursuant to
The Court owes the BIA no deference in its interpretation of the INA and interprets §§ 1225 and 1226 de novo. See Loper Bright Enters. v. Raimondo, 603 U.S. 369, 395-96 (2024). Indeed, the United States District Court for the Central District of California issued a nationwide declaratory judgment and vacatur under the APA against ICE‘s internal policy mandating that immigration detainees remain detained without a bond hearing. Bautista v. Santacruz, 813 F. Supp. 3d 1084 (C.D. Cal. 2025), judgment stayed in part, No. 5:25-cv-1873, ECF No. 129 (C.D. Cal. Mar. 6, 2025). In doing so, the Bautista court found that Matter of Yajure Hurtado cannot be controlling law because it relies on a faulty statutory analysis, which Bautista rejected. Id. at 1106; see also Duarte Escobar, 807 F. Supp. 3d at 580. While the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently stayed enforcement of the nationwide relief, Bautista v. Dep‘t Homeland Sec‘y, No. 26-1044, ECF No. 17 (9th Cir. Mar. 31, 2026), the Court agrees with the Bautista court‘s finding regarding Yajure Hurtado.
The present situation, as in Avelar Ramos, differs from that at issue in Miranda because Mr. Soriano Chavez has been denied access to a bond hearing entirely. Id.; see also Pineda Medrano v. Bondi, No. 1:25-cv-01870 (AJT), 2025 WL 3472152, at *3 n.5 (E.D. Va. Dec. 3, 2025) ([N]owhere in [Miranda] did the Fourth Circuit hold—explicitly or implicitly—that the failure to comport with the procedures contemplated in section 1226(a), including the provision of a bond determination hearing, would also satisfy due process.).