The petitioner, Nahum Santos-Barahona, has lived in the United States for approximately thirteen years and is married to a U.S. citizen with whom he has an eight-year-old child. He also serves as stepfather to a minor U.S. citizen and a minor lawful permanent resident.
Santos-Barahona was arrested in Delaware on February 15, 2026, following a domestic incident. He faced charges including possession of a deadly weapon during a felony, aggravated menacing, strangulation, unlawful imprisonment, assault in the third degree, and endangering the welfare of a child.
He was ultimately convicted of reckless endangerment of another person in the second degree and endangering the welfare of a child, receiving a suspended ten-month sentence. The strangulation charges were dropped.
The government argued that Santos-Barahona was subject to mandatory detention under the Laken Riley Act because he committed a crime resulting in serious bodily injury. The court rejected this, noting that the record contained no evidence of serious bodily injury and that the dropped strangulation charges could not support detention.
The court further held that his convictions for reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child are misdemeanor offenses that do not require actual injury as an element, and thus do not trigger the Laken Riley Act’s mandatory detention provisions.
Regarding the government’s argument that Santos-Barahona was subject to mandatory detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b) as an alien seeking admission, the court found this inapplicable. The court determined that § 1225(b) applies to those actively seeking entry, not to noncitizens already residing in the United States.
Citing multiple prior decisions within the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the court adopted the reasoning that Santos-Barahona, having resided in the country for nearly thirteen years, was not an applicant for admission. Consequently, his detention without a bond hearing was unlawful.