District of Massachusetts • 1:25-cv-13747

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Dec 08, 2025

PETITION for Writ of Habeas Corpus (2241) Filing fee: $ 5, receipt number AMADC-11404067 Fee status: Filing Fee paid., filed by E. G. Lema Lara. (Attachments: # 1 Category Form, # 2 Civil Cover Sheet, # 3 Exhibit)(Congote, Juan) (Entered: 12/08/2025)

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Dec 08, 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 Jennifer C. Boal. (JAM) (Entered: 12/08/2025)

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Dec 08, 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: 12/08/2025)

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Dec 08, 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 December 15, 2025. (Attachments: # 1 *SEALED* Appendix) (Currie, Haley) (Entered: 12/08/2025)

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Dec 08, 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 to Antone Moniz, Patricia Hyde, Todd Lyons, Kristi Noem ad Pamela Bondi on 12/8/2025. (Currie, Haley) (Entered: 12/08/2025)

Dec 08, 2025

Copy Mailed

Dec 08, 2025

Notice of Case Assignment

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Dec 11, 2025

Notice of Appearance

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Dec 15, 2025

Extension of Time

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Dec 15, 2025

District Judge Julia E. Kobick: ELECTRONIC ORDER granting 7 MOTION for Extension of Time to 12/17/2025 to to Answer or otherwise Respond (Currie, Haley) (Entered: 12/15/2025)

Dec 15, 2025

Order on Motion for Extension of Time

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Dec 17, 2025

Response - not related to a motion

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Dec 18, 2025

Brief - not related to a motion

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Dec 22, 2025

District Judge Julia E. Kobick: ELECTRONIC ORDER entered. Petitioner E.G. Lema Lara, a citizen of Ecuador, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 on December 8, 2025 seeking his immediate release or, alternatively, a bond hearing pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a). ECF 1, ¶¶ 2, 10, 22(d)-(e). In the spring of 2022, he entered the United States without inspection at the southern border, was arrested and detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and was placed in expedited removal proceedings. Id. ¶ 10; ECF 9-1, ¶¶ 7-8. Lema Lara claimed a fear of returning to Ecuador in July 2022. ECF 9-1, ¶¶ 9-10. The next month, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) found that fear credible and issued him a Notice to Appear, which was not filed in Immigration Court. Id. ¶ 11. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) then released him, also in August 2022, on interim parole under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(d)(5)(A). Id. ¶ 12. That parole expired one year later, in August 2023. Id.In December 2024, Lema Lara filed with USCIS an application for asylum, which remains pending. Id. ¶ 13; ECF 1, ¶¶ 9-10; ECF 1-3. On December 6, 2025, ICE arrested Lema Lara pursuant to a warrant and detained him at its field office in Burlington, Massachusetts. ECF 1, ¶¶ 2, 11; ECF 9-1, ¶¶ 5, 14. ICE issued a second Notice to Appear on December 10, 2025, which, as of December 17, 2025, had not yet been served on Lema Lara. ECF 9-1, ¶ 15. He remains under ICE’s custody at Plymouth County Correctional Facility in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Id. ¶ 5; ECF 1, ¶ 2.The respondents argue that Lema Lara is lawfully detained as an applicant for admission under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(1). They acknowledge, however, that “to the extent this Court determines that [he] is not an applicant for admission under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b), but rather, that his detention is governed by 8 U.S.C. § 1226, the Court’s prior decision in” Gomes v. Hyde, No. 25-cv-11571-JEK, 2025 WL 1869299 (D. Mass. July 7, 2025), “would control.” ECF 9, at 8. In that case, together with dos Santos v. Noem, No. 25-cv-12052-JEK, 2025 WL 2370988 (D. Mass. Aug. 14, 2025), this Court concluded that Section 1225(b) “does not apply to noncitizens who are arrested on a warrant issued by the Attorney General while residing in the United States.” Gomes, 2025 WL 1869299, at *7; see dos Santos, 2025 WL 2370988, at *7-8 & n.11. As the respondents appear to acknowledge, Gomes and dos Santos control here. Like the petitioners in Gomes and dos Santos, Lema Lara was arrested pursuant to a warrant while residing in Massachusetts, and he was not, at the time, on parole under Section 1182(d)(5)(A) or in the midst of expedited removal proceedings. Accordingly, he is not an applicant for admission subject to mandatory detention Section 1225(b)(1); instead, Section 1226(a) governs his detention. See id.; ECF 1, ¶ 2.Noncitizens like Lema Lara “detained 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.” Gomes, 2025 WL 1869299, at *1; see ECF 9, at 7-8. 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).For the foregoing reasons, Lema Lara’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241, ECF 1, is GRANTED. The respondents are ORDERED to provide him 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 December 31, 2025, notifying the Court whether Lema Lara has been granted bond and released or, if his request for bond was denied, providing the reasons for that denial. (Currie, Haley) (Entered: 12/22/2025)

Dec 22, 2025

Order

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Dec 30, 2025

Status Report

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Jan 05, 2026

Judgment