On May 15, 2003, petitioner Ahmed Hassan Ali, a native of Somalia, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, alleging that his extended detention awaiting deportation was unlawful.

On June 1, 2004, the district court (Judge Donovan W. Frank) granted the writ. Judge Frank adopted Magistrate Judge Mayeron's Report and Recommendation, dated March 30, 2004, which found that because of the injunction put in place by Ali v. Ashcroft, 346 F.3d 873 (9th Cir.2003) (nationwide class action enjoining the federal government from removing detained aliens to Somalia, because there was no functioning government there that could accept their return), it did not appear that Petitioner Ali would be deported anytime soon. As such, Judge Frank found that the petitioner was entitled to release pursuant to Zadvydas v. Davis, 533 U.S. 678 (2001). Ali v. Cangemi, 2004 WL 4000530 (D.Minn. Jun 01, 2004). The government appealed.

A panel of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed. Ali v. Cangemi, 384 F.3d 989 (8th Cir.2004). On November 23, 2004, the en banc court vacated the panel opinion and granted rehearing en banc. On December 29, 2004, the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) released Ali, allegedly by mistake. Thereafter, ICE tried but could not locate, considering him a fugitive. In light of Ali's release from custody, the en banc court reversed and vacated the district court judgment, and directed the district court to dismiss the case without prejudice, finding that Ali's petition for a writ of habeas corpus was moot. Ali v. Cangemi, 419 F.3d 722 (8th Cir. 2005).

On remand on December 19, 2005, District Judge Frank dismissed the case.

Dan Dalton - 12/21/2007


compress summary