ICE Re‑Arrests Immigrants After Habeas Corpus Wins, Courts Cry Foul
At least 20 people freed by habeas petitions have been seized again by ICE, prompting contempt rulings and appeals court rebuke.
Rapid Re‑Detentions Spark Legal Backlash
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been re‑arresting immigrants who were recently freed after winning habeas corpus petitions, according to the Guardian’s review of court records, attorneys and media reports. The investigation uncovered at least 20 such cases across the country in the past year.
Numbers Behind the Surge
ProPublica research shows that more than 91,000 habeas petitions have been filed since 25 January, outpacing the total filed during the three previous presidential administrations combined, including the first term of Donald Trump.
What Is a Habeas Corpus Petition?
A habeas corpus petition—Latin for “you shall have a body”—challenges a federal court’s authority to keep an individual in custody while the underlying immigration case proceeds.
Cases Illustrating the Trend
Bridget Pranzatelli of the National Immigration Project noted a “very, very sharp increase” in people who are released on habeas petitions only to be “very rapidly re‑detained, often in violation of the federal court’s order.” One client, 77‑year‑old Palestinian Akram Mahmoud Omar, suffered a heart attack while detained at “Camp 57” inside Louisiana’s Angola prison and was seized again by ICE ten days after his release, as first reported by The Intercept.
In Minnesota, seven immigrants were re‑detained before they could even leave the Whipple federal building detention facility on the outskirts of Minneapolis, a situation first reported by MPR. Their attorney, Daniel Suitor, said, “I don’t think being taken out of a building and directly into the arms of four or more officers complies with the court’s order.”
Judicial Responses
The federal judiciary is taking notice. In October, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Colorado rejected the government’s attempt to dismiss a habeas petition on the grounds that it could re‑detain the petitioner, citing a “demonstrated pattern of re‑detaining” non‑citizens who had been granted habeas relief.
In Louisiana, a federal judge held a senior immigration official in contempt for violating court orders after Ibrahim Mohammed was re‑arrested three times, as reported by The Banner. Similar contempt findings or threats have emerged from federal judges in Pennsylvania and Minnesota.
Possible Policy Link
Attorneys suggest the re‑detentions may be tied to the Trump administration’s recent push to deport individuals to third countries. “It’s really tethered to the explosion of third‑country agreements with primarily African nations in the past four months,” said Susanna Booth, senior attorney at the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights.
The administration has been sending immigrants who cannot be removed to their home countries—because those countries refuse them or because they have legal protections—to other nations where they lack citizenship or ties, a practice that previously left them safe from deportation.
Looking Ahead
As courts continue to hold ICE accountable, the pattern of rapid re‑detentions may face stricter scrutiny, potentially reshaping how habeas corpus victories are honored in practice.
