- Court: United States Supreme Court
- Area(s) of Law: Immigration
- Date Filed: June 13, 2022
- Case #: No. 19–896
- Judge(s)/Court Below: SOTOMAYOR, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which ROBERTS, C. J., and THOMAS, ALITO, KAGAN, GORSUCH, KAVANAUGH, and BARRETT, JJ., joined. THOMAS, J., filed a concurring opinion, in which GORSUCH, J., joined as to Part I. BREYER, J., filed an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part.
- Full Text Opinion
Respondent, a Mexican citizen, applied for withholding of removal under 8 U.S.C. §1231(b)(3), was determined to have a reasonable fear of persecution or torture, and was referred for withholding-only proceedings before an immigration judge. After being detained for four months without a bond hearing, Respondent filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus on statutory and constitutional grounds under §1236(a), which limits the types of noncitizens the Government may continuously detain. The District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania granted the petition and ordered a bond hearing, and the Third Circuit affirmed, citing precedent indicating noncitizens are entitled to bond hearings after six months of detention, with the burden falling on the Government to prove by clear and convincing evidence that the further detention is justified. The Supreme Court determined that there is no plausible construction of §1236(a)(6)’s text that would require the Government to provide bond hearings before immigration judges after six months of detention. It held that the cited precedent does not require nor permit the Third Circuit’s application of the canon of constitutional avoidance favoring Respondent’s interpretation of the statute. The Third Circuit’s judgment was reversed, and the case was remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.