District of Massachusetts • 1:26-cv-11315

#1

Mar 17, 2026

PETITION for Writ of Habeas Corpus (2241) Filing fee: $ 5, receipt number AMADC-11616594 Fee status: Filing Fee paid., filed by Willian Cabral Dos Santos. (Attachments: # 1 Civil Cover Sheet Civil Cover, # 2 Category Form Category Form)(Silva, Jonatas) Modified on 3/18/2026: corrected petitioner's name [first/last name flipped at opening] (Currie, Haley). (Entered: 03/17/2026)

#2

Mar 18, 2026

ELECTRONIC NOTICE of Case Assignment. District Judge Julia E. Kobick assigned to case. If the trial Judge issues an Order of Reference of any matter in this case to a Magistrate Judge, the matter will be transmitted to Magistrate Judge M. Page Kelley. (CM) (Entered: 03/18/2026)

#3

Mar 18, 2026

General Order 19-02, dated June 1, 2019 regarding Public Access to Immigration Cases Restricted by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.2(c). (Currie, Haley) (Entered: 03/18/2026)

#4

Mar 18, 2026

District Judge Julia E. Kobick: ORDER CONCERNING SERVICE OF PETITION AND STAY OR TRANSFER OF REMOVAL entered.The answer or responsive pleading is due no later than March 25, 2026. (Attachments: # 1 *SEALED* Appendix) (Currie, Haley) (Entered: 03/18/2026)

#5

Mar 18, 2026

Copies of the following were mailed to Antone Moniz, Timothy Baptiste, Patricia Hyde, Todd Lyons, Michael Krol and Kristi Noem on 3/11/2026: 1 Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus (2241) and 4 Order Concerning Service of Petition and Stay or Transfer of Removal (Currie, Haley) (Entered: 03/18/2026)

Mar 18, 2026

Copy Mailed

Mar 18, 2026

Notice of Case Assignment

#6

Mar 20, 2026

Notice of Appearance

#7

Mar 20, 2026

Notice - Other

#8

Mar 20, 2026

Answer/Response to Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus - 2241

#9

Mar 23, 2026

District Judge Julia E. Kobick: ELECTRONIC ORDER entered. Petitioner Willian Cabral Dos Santos, a citizen of Brazil whose wife and child are U.S. citizens, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 on March 17, 2026 seeking an order prohibiting the respondents from transferring, deporting, or removing him. ECF 1, ¶ 2; id. at 6.Dos Santos entered the United States in 2021 as a minor with his parents. Id. ¶ 16. After removal proceedings were initiated against them, Dos Santos’ father applied for asylum and withholding of removal on behalf of himself, Dos Santos, and Dos Santos’ mother. Id. ¶ 17. On January 18, 2023, an Immigration Judge denied those applications and ordered Dos Santos and his parents removed to Brazil. Id. ¶ 18. On November 2, 2023, the Board of Immigration Appeals dismissed Dos Santos’ father subsequent appeal and entered the removal order against Dos Santos and his parents. ECF 8-1, at 12-13. On March 12, 2024, Dos Santos and his parents filed a motion to re-open proceedings and requested a stay of removal. Id. at 22. The BIA denied the stay request on March 13, 2024 and subsequently denied the motion to re-open proceedings on January 3, 2025, concluding that it was untimely. Id. at 22-24. Sometime in 2024, Dos Santos married a U.S. citizen. ECF 1, ¶ 2. He is also the father of a two-year-old U.S. citizen and has a pending I-130 Application for Alien Relative. Id. ¶¶ 2-3.On January 11, 2026, the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) detained Dos Santos in Massachusetts. Id. ¶ 20. On January 12, 2026, Dos Santos filed a § 2241 petition before this Court, which he subsequently voluntarily dismissed without prejudice under Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(1)(A)(ii). Dos Santos v. Wesling, No. 26-cv-10123-JEK (D. Mass. Jan. 27, 2026). On February 13, 2026, Dos Santos filed another § 2241 petition before a different session of this Court seeking an order prohibiting the respondents from transferring him outside of New England or, in the alternative, requiring that the respondents release him. ECF 1, Cabral dos Santos v. Moniz, No. 26-cv-10852-DJC (D. Mass.). That petition was denied because this Court lacked jurisdiction to grant Dos Santos’s requested relief with respect to transfer, his transfer claims were not ripe, and, to the extent that Dos Santos challenged his detention, he was not entitled to release because he was subject to a final order of removal under 8 U.S.C. § 1231(a)(1). ECF 8, Cabral dos Santos, No. 26-cv-10852-DJC (D. Mass.).Dos Santos then filed this § 2241 petition on March 17, 2026 after being informed that he would be transferred on March 18, 2026 to Louisiana for the purpose of being placed on a removal flight to Brazil. ECF 1, ¶ 1. On March 20, 2026, the respondents filed a notice of intent to transfer Dos Santos out of Massachusetts after 72 hours to effectuate his removal to Brazil, ECF 7, and an answer to Dos Santos’ § 2241 petition, ECF 8. Dos Santos remains in ICE’s custody at the Plymouth County Correctional Facility in Plymouth, Massachusetts. ECF 1, ¶¶ 11, 20.The respondents contend that Dos Santos’ petition must be denied because it is materially identical to the petition that was denied on March 6, 2026 by another session of this Court. ECF 8, at 1-2. The Court agrees. Dos Santos’ March 17 petition is nearly identical to his February 13 petition; it brings the same three counts, names the same respondents, and does not appear to raise any new facts giving rise to a new claim. Compare ECF 1 and ECF 1, Cabral dos Santos, No. 26-cv-10852-DJC (D. Mass.). The only new facts Dos Santos alleges in the instant petition are that his transfer is imminent and that he “has an active deadline for review of his case before ICE, as well as a scheduled hearing on April 2, 2026, related to the final resolution of his pending criminal matter.” ECF 1, ¶ 4. Neither fact alters this Court’s prior conclusion that it lacks jurisdiction to grant Dos Santos’ requested relief with respect to transfer. As the Court explained, “writs of habeas corpus under § 2241 ‘can be used only to request release from custody,’ Benito Vasquez v. Moniz, 788 F. Supp. 3d 177, 182 (D. Mass. 2025) (citing Wilkinson v. Dotson, 544 U.S. 74, 78, (2005)), and are thus ‘not appropriate vehicles to challenge the circumstances of confinement... including a prisoner's location of custody.’ Id. (internal citations omitted).” ECF 8, Cabral dos Santos, No. 26-cv-10852-DJC (D. Mass.).Nor does the instant petition appear to advance any new arguments regarding the lawfulness of Dos Santos’ detention. Dos Santos does not contest that he is subject to a final order of removal pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1231(a)(1), ECF 1, ¶ 18, or that he has been detained for a period of less than 90 days, id. ¶ 20. Accordingly, to the extent Dos Santos seeks to challenge his detention, this Court concludes that Dos Santos is not presently entitled to release. See 8 U.S.C. § 1231(a)(2) (mandating that “the Attorney General shall detain the alien” to effectuate the removal order); id. § 1231(a)(1) (explaining that “when an alien is ordered removed, the Attorney General shall remove the alien from the United States within a period of 90 days”).For the aforementioned reasons, Dos Santos’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241, ECF 1, is DENIED. This Court’s March 18, 2026 Order Concerning Service of Petition and Stay or Transfer of Removal, ECF 4, is hereby VACATED, and this action is DISMISSED. Dos Santos is also reminded of Local Rule 40.1(g)(6), which requires plaintiffs to designate related cases, and Local Rule 40.1(g)(1), which defines related civil cases. (Currie, Haley) (Entered: 03/23/2026)

#10

Mar 23, 2026

District Judge Julia E. Kobick: ORDER OF DISMISSAL entered. (Currie, Haley) (Entered: 03/23/2026)

Mar 23, 2026

Order