govinfo:USCOURTS-casd-3_26-cv-03196-0

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 
 
EMIR EDUARDO SANCHEZ 
MENDEZ, 
Petitioner, 
v. 
JEREMY CASEY, Warden Imperial 
Regional Detention Facility, et al.,  
Respondents. 
 Case No.:  26-CV-3196 JLS (DEB) 
 
ORDER GRANTING IN PART 
PETITION FOR WRIT OF 
HABEAS CORPUS 
 
(ECF No. 1) 
Presently before the Court is Emir Eduardo Sanchez Mendez’s Petition for Writ of 
Habeas Corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241 (“Pet.,” ECF No. 1).  Also before the Court 
are Respondents’ Return to Habeas Petition (“Ret.,” ECF No. 4) and Petitioner’s Traverse 
(“Traverse,” ECF No. 5).   
Petitioner has resided in the United States since December 2023 and alleges that he 
has been detained since April 15, 2026, when he was arrested outside a gas station.  Pet. 
at 2.  Petitioner claims that he is entitled to release  because he was released “on his own 
recognizance on December 1, 2023.”  Id.  Respondents report that “DHS has no evidence 
regarding any December 1, 2023, encounter.”  Ret. at 1.  In the Traverse, Petitioner 
concedes that he was not given a formal release on his own recognizance, but rather he was 
arrested, placed in the back of a border patrol vehicle, held for three hours, then dropped 
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off at a bus station in El Paso, Texas.  Traverse, Ex. A at 10.  Petitioner argues that this 
short detention followed by his release creates a liberty interest requiring the Government 
to provide notice and a hearing prior to his re-detention.  Traverse at 1.   
Petitioner cites several cases in the Southern District that have released habeas 
petitioners based on summary revocation of conditional parole or release on their own 
recognizance without notice or an opportunity to be heard.  See, e.g., Garcia v. Mullin, No. 
26-CV-2241-RBM-MSB, 2026 WL 1142629, at *2 (S.D. Cal. Apr. 27, 2026); Faizyan v. 
Casey, No. 25-CV-2884-RBM-JLB, 2025 WL 3208844, at *7 (S.D. Cal. Nov. 17, 2025).  
Petitioner provides no authority, and the Court is unaware of any, extending this line o f 
cases to the fact pattern at issue —a three-hour detention in the back of a border patrol 
vehicle without any formal grant of parole or release on recognizance.  Therefore, the Court 
cannot grant release.  
However, Petitioner is a member of the Bond Eligible Class certified in Maldonado 
Bautista v. Santacruz, No. 25-CV-1873-SSS-BFM, --- F. Supp. 3d ---, 2025 WL 3288403 
(C.D. Cal. Nov. 25, 2025). 1  Ret. at 2 .  Respondents acknowledge that, while Bautista is 
stayed, “prior orders from this District direct[] bond hearings pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 
1226(a) in similar cases. ”  Id.  Respondents “therefore do not oppose an Order requiring 
such a hearing for Petitioner.”  Id.  Therefore, the Petition (ECF No. 1) is GRANTED IN 
PART.   
CONCLUSION 
Based on the foregoing, the Court GRANTS IN PART Petitioner’s Petition for Writ 
of Habeas Corpus (ECF No. 1) and ORDERS the Government to provide Petitioner with 
an individualized bond hearing under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) within fourteen (14) days, unless 
Petitioner, the non-citizen, requests a continuance.  Bond SHALL NOT be denied on the 
 
1 On March 6, 2026, the Ninth Circuit granted an administrative stay of the Bautista  decision “insofar as 
the district court’s judgment extends beyond the Central District of California.”  Maldonado Bautista, et 
al. v. United States Department of Homeland Security, et al., No. 26-1044, ECF No. 5 (9th Cir. March 6, 
2026).  Therefore, the Court resolves the Petition without reliance on Maldonado Bautista. 
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basis that 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2) requires mandatory detention.  The non-citizen bears the 
burden of demonstrating, by a preponderance of the evidence, that they are not a danger to 
the community or a flight risk.  See Rodriguez Diaz v. Garland, 53 F.4th 1189, 1197 (9th 
Cir. 2022).  The Court DENIES IN PART the Petition to the extent that Petitioner requests 
to be released from custody.   
The Parties SHALL FILE a status report informing the Court of the outcome of the 
hearing or informing the Court of Petitioner’s request for a continuance by July 10, 2026.  
The Clerk of Court SHALL CLOSE the file.   
IT IS SO ORDERED. 
Dated:  June 18, 2026 
 
 
 
 
 
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