Adrian Alejandro Jimenez Arvizu, a Mexican citizen who entered the United States without inspection in 2004, was arrested by ICE officials on January 28, 2026, following his arrest by Indiana State Police on charges of disorderly conduct, criminal mischief, and resisting law enforcement. He has been detained at the Clay County Jail in Brazil, Indiana, and has not been given a custody re-determination hearing since his arrest.
Judge Benzon determined that Jimenez Arvizu's detention is governed by 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), which requires bond hearings for certain detained immigrants. The judge rejected the government's argument that the petitioner should be detained under § 1225(b)(2)(A), writing that such interpretation 'disregards the plain meaning' of the statute and 'would render a recent amendment to § 1226(c) superfluous.' Benzon relied on Seventh Circuit precedent in Castañon-Nava v. U.S. Dep't of Homeland Sec., despite acknowledging contrary decisions from the Fifth and Eighth Circuits.
The case represents the latest in a series of Southern District of Indiana decisions interpreting immigration detention statutes. Judge Benzon previously ruled in similar cases including Alejandro v. Olson and Delgado Avila v. Crowley, establishing precedent that undocumented immigrants who have lived in the U.S. interior for years are entitled to bond hearings under § 1226(a) rather than mandatory detention under § 1225.
The government must provide Jimenez Arvizu with an individualized bond hearing or release him by April 13, 2026. The ruling adds to a circuit split on immigration detention, with the Seventh Circuit's interpretation diverging from recent Fifth and Eighth Circuit decisions that have upheld broader government detention authority.