On August 15, 2005, a Somali refugee who was detained by the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) pending removal filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. Because Petitioner received several criminal convictions, the ICE sought to revoke his lawful permanent resident status and deport him pursuant to the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(ii)-(iii).

Petitioner claimed that his detention in custody was unlawful under Zadvydas v. Davis, 533 U.S. 678, (2001). Specifically, Petitoner asserted that his custody had exceeded 6 months and that it was unlikely that he would be deported to Somalia in light of the lack of a functioning government there. He argued that the government had to either deport him to Somalia, or release him from custody.

On April 21, 2006, the District Court (Judge Michael J. Rosenbaum) adopted the Magistrate's Report and Recommendation and ordered that Petitioner be released from custody on grounds that there was no significant likelihood that his removal could be accomplished in near future. The ICE was to be made aware of his whereabouts pending further removal proceedings. Moallin v. Cangemi, 427 F. Supp. 2d. 908 (D. Minn. 2006).

We have no further information on this case.

Stephen Imm - 08/23/2007


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