Juntin David Gomez-Caballero, a Venezuelan citizen detained at the North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, Michigan, entered the United States without inspection in May 2023 and was initially released on his own recognizance. ICE agents re-arrested him in February 2026, and he has a pending asylum application. He challenged his detention through a counseled habeas petition, arguing that officials improperly applied mandatory detention statutes.
Judge Beckering concluded that immigration officials wrongly detained Gomez-Caballero under the mandatory detention framework of 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A), finding instead that § 1226(a) should govern his case. 'The Court concludes that Petitioner's current detention under the mandatory detention framework set forth in § 1225(b)(2)(A) violates Petitioner's Fifth Amendment due process rights,' Beckering wrote, citing her reasoning from four similar cases decided in December 2025.
The government argued that Gomez-Caballero should exhaust administrative remedies by pursuing a bond hearing before the immigration court and appealing any adverse decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals. However, Beckering declined to enforce the exhaustion doctrine, finding waiver appropriate based on her analysis in related cases involving other detained immigrants in the Western District of Michigan.
The ruling represents part of a broader pattern of successful habeas challenges in the Western District of Michigan, with Beckering having granted similar petitions for at least four other detained immigrants in December 2025. The government must file a status report within six business days certifying compliance with the order and detailing the outcome of any bond hearing or release.