Pedro Rodriguez Tamayo, who acknowledged illegal entry into the United States, filed a habeas corpus petition challenging his detention under the Immigration and Nationality Act and the Due Process Clause. Tamayo is being held by immigration officials led by Sen. Markwayne Mullin and others pending removal proceedings.
Judge Eskridge noted that the Fifth Circuit's recent decision in Buenrostro-Mendez v. Bondi established that anyone present in the U.S. without legal admission is subject to mandatory detention under federal immigration law. The judge wrote that the circuit court 'holds that anyone present in the United States without legal admission is both an applicant for admission and deemed to be seeking admission, and that all such persons are thus subject to mandatory detention under §1225(b)(2)(A).'
Eskridge previously determined in a March case that procedural due process doesn't require individualized custody hearings beyond what federal immigration law mandates, and that pre-removal detention without bond hearings doesn't violate substantive due process within the six-month timeframe established by Supreme Court precedent in Zadvydas v. Davis.
The government must file its response by April 16, with Tamayo's reply due April 21. Judge Eskridge indicated he may schedule a hearing after briefing concludes, though he suggested that recent circuit precedent 'may foreclose the issues in the present petition.'