***PRESS RELEASE***

SAN FRANCISCO – The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area (LCCRSF) has submitted a petition for rehearing to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, contesting a July 2024 panel decision in Doe v. Garland that jeopardizes the ability of individuals detained by ICE to pursue justice through habeas corpus. The case raises a pivotal question about the fundamental right to petition for habeas corpus: must an immigrant detained in a private detention facility sue a corporate employee to challenge unconstitutional detention procedures, or can they sue the government official legally responsible for those procedures? 

The panel decision held that detained immigrants must sue the contracted private detention facility administrator rather than the government official responsible for the detention. Unlike petitions seeking release, immigration cases often request bond hearings—a remedy only the government, not private contractors, can provide.  

The panel’s decision contradicts numerous decisions of the Supreme Court and the Ninth Circuit. Its impact is far-reaching–it enables ICE to forum-shop by detaining individuals in remote contract facilities outside the jurisdiction of courts with sufficient resources and where counsel is available to protect immigrants’ rights. In one potential scenario, ICE’s San Francisco Field Office could detain Californians in private detention facilities as far away as Guam, severely limiting their access to legal recourse. 

The panel decision also imperils federal habeas corpus protections for individuals beyond the immigration context. By holding that challenges seeking procedures to consider release are not cognizable under the federal habeas statute, the panel decision could shut down critical avenues of relief for federal prisoners and detained immigrants alike. 

“We hope the Court will vacate and correct the panel decision and reaffirm the ability of detained immigrants to hold ICE accountable to the Constitution through habeas corpus.” – Jordan Wells, Immigrant Justice Program Director, Lawyers’ Committe for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area (LCCRSF).

Petition for rehearing
2024 July opinion

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