Josue Isai Perez Ruiz, a citizen of El Salvador who has lived in the United States since 2017, was taken into custody by Department of Homeland Security officers on January 14, 2026, and has been held at the Aurora Contract Detention Facility ever since. Immigration authorities told him he was ineligible for a bond hearing because he must remain detained pending removal proceedings, but Perez Ruiz challenged that determination through a habeas corpus petition.
Judge Chung ruled that Perez Ruiz is detained under the wrong statutory provision and is entitled to a bond hearing under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), which provides for discretionary detention. The government had argued he should be held under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2), which allows for mandatory detention of recent arrivals. "The Court finds that the petitioner is detained pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1226, and his continued detention without a bond hearing is therefore a violation of due process," Judge Chung wrote.
The ruling represents the latest in a series of similar decisions across the District of Colorado, where multiple federal judges have rejected the government's new interpretation of immigration detention statutes. As Judge Chung noted, "The Court remains firmly convinced that it and the other judges in the District who have addressed this issue have correctly decided those cases."
The case stems from what the court described as "a new interpretation of 8 U.S.C. §§ 1225, 1226" that has prompted "numerous cases in this District and across the country seeking habeas relief for immigrants detained within the United States." The government acknowledged some of Perez Ruiz's criminal history but did not argue it required mandatory detention under the criminal alien detention statute.
The government tried to distinguish this case by citing contrary rulings from the Fifth and Eighth Circuits, but Judge Chung was unpersuaded. The respondents "respectfully disagree" with the court's prior ruling on the same issue but "present no argument why these non-binding decisions require the Court to reverse itself on this legal question," the judge wrote. He noted that the government even conceded that under his previous precedent, "this Court's prior ruling on this issue would lead the Court to reach the same result here."
The decision creates a clear circuit split on immigration detention authority, with the Fifth Circuit's recent ruling in Buenrostro-Mendez v. Bondi taking the opposite view. Judge Chung specifically referenced a thorough rebuttal of that "divided decision" by Judge Sweeney in another Colorado case, Singh v. Baltazar, which he said "provides a solid foundation to maintain the consensus that exists in this District."
Judge Chung ordered the government to provide Perez Ruiz with a bond hearing within seven days and enjoined authorities from denying bond based on the mandatory detention provision. However, he denied Perez Ruiz's request for attorney fees without prejudice, noting that the petition failed to comply with local rules requiring an affidavit and legal authority to support such requests.