Nelson Rolando Munoz v. Markwayne Mullins, et al.
- Proceeding
- original
- Outcome
- other — 5 A court may grant a writ of habeas corpus to a petitioner who dem
- Area
- civil
- Panel
- Cynthia Ann Bashant (author)
Analysis
Petitioner Nelson Rolando Munoz, a non-citizen detained by ICE, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 seeking a bond hearing. The Court granted the petition and ordered that a bond hearing be held within 10 days under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), with release ordered if the hearing does not occur.
| What the court decided | The model |
|---|---|
Granting the Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus and ordering a bond hearing“Accordingly, the Court issues the following writ: The Court ORDERS a bond hearing before an Immigration Judge for Nelson Rolando Munoz (A#094-258-011) within 10 days of the date of this Order.” | agree with court The court's decision is supported by the Government's explicit concession that the Petitioner is entitled to a bond hearing under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) and the court's prior precedent in the district agreeing with the class certification in Maldonado Bautista. The order correctly identifies the applicable statute for the bond hearing. |
The order itself: sound — The order is procedurally sound and relies on the Government's concession and the court's own established precedent within the district. It correctly distinguishes the Ninth Circuit's stay of the class action (which applies outside the Central District) from the court's independent agreement with the legal reasoning in Maldonado Bautista. The order clearly specifies the statutory basis for the bond hearing (8 U.S.C. § 1226(a)) and provides a clear remedy with a deadline.
How this analysis was made · dispute it
unusual dispositionOpinion
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 11 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 12 13 NELSON ROLANDO MUNOZ, Case No. 26-cv-03928-BAS-VET 14 Petitioner, ORDER GRANTING PETITION 15 v. FOR WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS (ECF No. 1) 16 MARKWAYNE MULLINS, et al., 17 Respondents. 18 20 21 Petitioner Nelson Rolando Munoz filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus under 22 28 U.S.C. § 2241 requesting a bond hearing. (ECF No. 1.) The Government responded to 23 the Petition, acknowledging that Petitioner is a member of the class certified in Maldonado 24 Bautista, and thus, the Government “do[es] not oppose an order from this Court directing 25 a bond hearing be held pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a).” (ECF No. 4.) For the reasons 26 stated below, the Court GRANTS the Petition and orders that Petitioner be given a bond 27 hearing within 10 days. 28 1 I. LEGAL STANDARD 2 A writ of habeas corpus is “available to every individual detained within the United 3 States.” Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, 542 U.S. 507, 525 (2004). “The traditional function of the writ 4 is to secure release from illegal custody.” Preiser v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 475, 484 (1973). 5 A court may grant a writ of habeas corpus to a petitioner who demonstrates he or she is in 6 custody in violation of the Constitution or federal law. 28 U.S.C. § 2241(c)(3). The writ is 7 available to non-citizens detained within the United States. Zadvydas v. Davis, 533 U.S. 8 678, 687 (2001). Since Petitioner is in custody, and since he is seeking release from 9 custody, he has standing to pursue this Petition. 10 II. ANALYSIS 11 Petitioner is a Honduran national who entered the United States without inspection 12 in 1993—over thirty years ago. (Pet. ¶ 2.) He has two U.S. citizen children. (Id.) On June 13 24, 2026, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) arrested Petitioner in the interior 14 of the United States. (Id.) He has been denied a bond hearing solely on the ground that his 15 detention was mandatory pursuant to Matter of Yajure Hurtado, 29 I. & N. Dec. 216 (BIA 16 2025). (Id. ¶¶ 2–12.) 17 The Central District of California has certified a class of which Petitioner is a 18 member and essentially overruled Yajure Hurtado. Maldonado Bautista v. Santacruz, 813 19 F. Supp. 3d 1075 (C.D. Cal. 2025). Although the Ninth Circuit has stayed application of 20 the class to any members outside the Central District of California, Maldonado Bautista v. 21 U.S. Dep’t of Homeland Sec., No. 26-1044 (9th Cir. Mar. 6, 2026), this Court has 22 previously held in multiple cases that it agrees with the court in Maldonado Bautista that 23 an individual in Petitioner’s situation is not subject to mandatory detention under Section 24 1225. See, e.g., Gregorio v. LaRose, No. 25-cv-03322-BAS-BJW, 2025 WL 3653998 (S.D. 25 Cal. Dec. 17, 2025); Zayas v. Gordon, No. 26-cv-00237-BAS-DEB, 2026 WL 266275 26 (S.D. Cal. Feb. 2, 2026); Trujillo v. Noem, No. 26-cv-00268-BAS-VET, 2026 WL 266496 27 (S.D. Cal. Feb. 2, 2026). The Government concedes that Petitioner is entitled to an order 28 from this Court directing a bond hearing be held pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a). (ECF No. 1 ||4.) Hence, for all of the reasons stated in these previous opinions, the Court GRANTS the 2 || Petition. 3 ||. CONCLUSION 4 Accordingly, the Court issues the following writ: 5 The Court ORDERS a bond hearing before an Immigration Judge for Nelson 6 Rolando Munoz (A#094-258-011) within 10 days of the date of this Order. The bond hearing shall be governed by 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), not § 1225(b)(2). 7 If no bond hearing is held within 10 days, Petitioner is ordered released forthwith. 9 || The Clerk of Court shall close the case. 10 IT IS SO ORDERED. 11 12 || DATED: July 16, 2026 (illu Baha □□ 13 Hon. Cynthia Bashant, Chief Judge 14 United States District Court 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 48