District of Massachusetts • 1:25-cv-13195

#1

Oct 30, 2025

PETITION for Writ of Habeas Corpus (2241) Filing fee: $ 5, receipt number AMADC-11329430 Fee status: Filing Fee paid., filed by Hippolite Sheta Mbuese. (Attachments: # 1 Category Form, # 2 Civil Cover Sheet, # 3 Exhibit A - Order Denying Bond Hearing)(Hackett, Alyssa) Modified on 10/30/2025: main document replaced with corrected petition provided by counsel (Currie, Haley). (Entered: 10/30/2025)

#2

Oct 30, 2025

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 Paul G. Levenson. (SP) (Entered: 10/30/2025)

#3

Oct 30, 2025

General Order 19-02, dated June 1, 2019 regarding Public Access to Immigration Cases Restricted by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.2(c). (EZG) (Entered: 10/30/2025)

#4

Oct 30, 2025

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 November 6, 2025. (Attachments: # 1 *SEALED* Appendix) (Currie, Haley) (Entered: 10/30/2025)

#5

Oct 30, 2025

Copy re: 1 Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus (2241) and 4 Order Concerning Service of Petition and Stay or Transfer of Removal mailed Antone Moniz, Patricia Hyde, Todd Lyons and Kristi Noem on 10/30/2025. (Currie, Haley) (Entered: 10/30/2025)

Oct 30, 2025

Notice of Case Assignment

Oct 30, 2025

Copy Mailed

#6

Nov 03, 2025

Notice of Appearance

#7

Nov 05, 2025

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

#8

Nov 07, 2025

District Judge Julia E. Kobick: ELECTRONIC ORDER entered. Petitioner Hippolite Sheta Mbuese, a citizen of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a resident of Maine, has filed a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 seeking his immediate release or, alternatively, a bond hearing pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a). ECF 1, ¶¶ 1, 13; id. at 8; ECF 7-1, ¶ 6; ECF 7-2 at 3. On May 13, 2022, Sheta Mbuese entered the United States at a place which was neither a port of entry nor another place designated by the Attorney General. ECF 7-1, ¶ 7. He entered without inspection, admission, or parole by an immigration officer. Id. U.S. Customs and Border Protection ("CBP") encountered him that day at or near Del Rio, Texas; served him with a Form I-94; and paroled him into the United States pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1182(d)(5), with a parole expiration date of July 12, 2022. Id. ¶¶ 7-8; ECF 7-2. On July 14, 2022, Sheta Mbuese appeared at a check-in at an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement ("ICE") office in Scarborough, Maine. Id. ¶ 9. ICE served him with a Form I-200 Warrant for his arrest issued under 8 U.S.C. §§ 1226 and 1357, and with a Notice to Appear charging him with inadmissibility under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(A)(i) and 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(7)(A)(i)(I) as an alien present in the United States who has not been admitted or paroled, and who, as an applicant for admission, was not in possession of a valid entry document. Id. ICE then released him on an order of recognizance, likewise under 8 U.S.C. § 1226. Id. ¶ 10; see Gomes v. Hyde, No. 25-cv-11571-JEK, 2025 WL 1869299, at *2 (D. Mass. July 7, 2025) (an order of recognizance is a form of conditional parole under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a)(2)(B)). The next day, ICE filed the Notice to Appear in the Boston Immigration Court, thus commencing standard removal proceedings against Sheta Mbuese under 8 U.S.C. § 1229(a). Id. ¶ 11. An Immigration Judge dismissed those removal proceedings on March 14, 2024. Id. ¶ 12. On October 15, 2025, ICE detained Sheta Mbuese in Maine and served him with another Notice to Appear, charging him again with inadmissibility under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(A)(i) and 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(7)(A)(i)(I). Id. ¶ 14; ECF 1, ¶ 2. ICE filed this second Notice to Appear with the Chelmsford Immigration Court on October 21, 2025, initiating another round of standard removal proceedings against Sheta Mbuese under 8 U.S.C. § 1229(a). ECF 7-1, ¶ 15. He is currently being held in ICE custody in the District of Massachusetts, id. ¶ 17; ECF 1, ¶ 3, and has no criminal record, ECF 1, ¶ 4. In his habeas petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241, filed on October 30, 2025 in this Court, Sheta Mbuese contends that he is not lawfully detained under 8 U.S.C. § 1225 because, among other reasons, he does not meet the criteria for Expedited Removal; he is a person already present in the United States and therefore cannot be seeking admission to the country; and he was not, at the time of arrest, paroled into the United States pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1182(d)(5)(A). ECF 1, ¶¶ 6-8. Nor, he contends, could he be lawfully detained under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(c), because he has not been convicted of any crime triggering such detention. Id. ¶ 10. In its response, the government claims that Sheta Mbuese is lawfully detained as an applicant for admission under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2). ECF 7, at 1. The government argues, in part, that he must be returned to custody under Section 1225(b)(2) because his parole, issued pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1182(d)(5)(A), expired. ECF 7, at 4. But this argument belies the fact that, in July 2022, after the expiration of Sheta Mbuese's parole, the government detained him pursuant to a warrant and released him on an order of recognizance, each under the authority of 8 U.S.C. § 1226. See ECF 7-1, ¶¶ 9-10. As the government acknowledges, ECF 7, at 4, this Court has consistently "rejected the government's argument that a petitioner who was arrested on a Form I-200 Warrant—which, like the warrant in this case, referenced §§ 1226 and 1357—was subject to mandatory detention under Section 1225(b)," Soares da Silva, No. 25-cv-12483, at Doc. No. 23 (citing dos Santos v. Noem, No. 25-cv-12052-JEK, 2025 WL 2370988 (D. Mass. Aug. 14, 2025)). Recognizing that "the core questions of law in this case . . . substantially overlap with those at issue in Soares [da] Silva," the government contends that, "[s]hould the Court apply the same reasoning it did in that case to this one," it would "likely . . . [reach] the same conclusion here." ECF 7, at 4. The Court agrees and therefore concludes that Sheta Mbuese is not an applicant for admission subject to mandatory detention under Section 1225(b)(2). Rather, he, like the similarly situated petitioners in this Court's decisions in Soares da Silva and dos Santos, is subject to detention under Section 1226(a). Notably, the government's declaration in this case does not specify whether, in taking Sheta Mbuese into custody on October 15, 2025, it acted pursuant to a warrant. But because the petitioners in Soares da Silva and dos Santos were detained pursuant to a warrant that invoked Section 1226, and the government represents that this case is similar to Soares da Silva, the Court assumes that Sheta Mbuese was likewise detained in October 2025 pursuant to a warrant.Noncitizens subject to detention under Section 1226(a) "have the right to request a bond hearing before an Immigration Judge, at which the government bears the burden to prove that continued detention is justified." dos Santos, 2025 WL 2370988, at *1. Bond may be denied only if the government "either (1) prove[s] by clear and convincing evidence that [the noncitizen] poses a danger to the community or (2) prove[s] by a preponderance of the evidence that [the noncitizen] poses a flight risk." Hernandez-Lara v. Lyons, 10 F.4th 19, 41 (1st Cir. 2021). Accordingly, Sheta Mbuese's petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241, ECF 1, is GRANTED. The respondents are ORDERED to provide Sheta Mbuese with a bond hearing pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) within 7 days of this order. The respondents are further ORDERED to file a status report on or before November 17, 2025 notifying the Court whether Sheta Mbuese has been granted bond and released from custody or, if his request for bond was denied, providing the reasons for that denial. (Currie, Haley) (Entered: 11/07/2025)

Nov 07, 2025

Order

#9

Nov 16, 2025

Status Report

#10

Nov 17, 2025

District Judge Julia E. Kobick: JUDGMENT entered. (Currie, Haley) (Entered: 11/17/2025)