Case Name in Immigration Case - Unavailable

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF MINNESOTA
Fanny U.,1
Petitioner,
v.
Pamela Bondi, Kristi Noem, Todd M.
Lyons, and David Easterwood,
Respondents.
Case No. 26-CV-262 (MJD/JFD)
REPORT AND
RECOMMENDATION
Petitioner Fanny U. has filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus (Dkt. No. 1),
pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241. The petition has been referred to the undersigned for the
issuance of a report and recommendation. Petitioner claims she is being denied access to a
bond hearing to which she is entitled under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a). Respondents counter that
Petitioner is not eligible for a bond hearing because her detention is mandatory under 8
U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2). For the reasons set forth in Beltran v. Bondi, No. 25-04604
(MJD/DTS), 2025 WL 3719856, at *1 (D. Minn. Dec. 23, 2025), the Court recommends
that the petition be granted.
Petitioner is a citizen of Ecuador. (Pet. ¶ 12.) She has lived in the United States
continuously since August 22, 2023, and has asserted a claim for asylum on behalf of
herself and her children. (Pet. ¶¶ 12–13.) Petitioner was detained by Respondents on
1 This District has adopted a policy of using only the first name and last initial of any
nongovernmental parties in immigration cases.
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January 13, 2026. (Pet. ¶ 18.) Respondents have refused to provide her with a bond hearing,
citing Matter of Yajure Hurtado, 29 I. & N. Dec. 216 (BIA 2025). Petitioner has no criminal
history. (Pet. ¶ 16.) On the date she filed her petition, Petitioner was held in ICE custody
in Minnesota. (Pet. ¶ 23.)
In a one-page response to the petition,2 Respondents state that this case is similar to
Avila v. Bondi, No. 25-cv-3741 (JRT/SGE), 2025 WL 2976539 (D. Minn. Oct. 21, 2025),
appeal filed, No. 25-3248 (8th Cir. Nov. 10, 2025). Avila held that a noncitizen who was
already present in the United States when detained is not subject to mandatory detention
under § 1225(b)(2)(A); rather, § 1226 applies, and the petitioner is entitled to a bond
hearing under § 1226(a). Avila, 2025 WL 2976539, at *7.
The Honorable Michael J. Davis, who is the United States District Judge assigned
to this case, reached the same conclusion in Beltran v. Bondi, No. 25-04604 (MJD/DTS),
2025 WL 3719856, at *1 (D. Minn. Dec. 23, 2025): that § 1226(a) governs the detention
of noncitizens who are already residing in the United States, such as Petitioner—not
§ 1225(b)(2), which governs the detention of noncitizens seeking admission into the United
States. Beltran, 2025 WL 3719856, at *3. If seeking admission, a noncitizen is subject to
mandatory detention and not entitled to a bond hearing; if already residing in the United
States, detention is discretionary, and the noncitizen is entitled to a bond hearing. Id.
Respondents have not shown how this case is materially distinguishable from Beltran.
2 Respondents were ordered to file a response to Petitioner’s Motion for a Temporary
Restraining Order (see Dkt. No. 7), but they filed a response to the Petition instead (see
Dkt. No. 8). The Court therefore proceeds directly to the Petition in this Report and
Recommendation.
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The Court finds that Petitioner is a noncitizen present in the United States who is
detained pursuant to § 1226 and thus entitled to a bond hearing. She is not an applicant for
admission and thus is not subject to mandatory detention under § 1225(b). The Court
therefore recommends that the petition be granted. The parties’ attention is directed to the
shorter than usual deadlines for filing objections to this Report and Recommendation and
for filing responses to those objections, set forth in the “Notice” below.
Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY RECOMMENDED that:
1. Petitioner Fanny U.’s Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus (Dkt. No. 1) be
GRANTED insofar as Respondents be ordered to hold a bond hearing under 8
U.S.C. § 1226(a) before an immigration judge in Minnesota within seven days of
an order adopting this Report and Recommendation;
2. Petitioner’s Motion for Temporary Restraining Order (Dkt. No. 2) be DENIED AS
MOOT; and
3. 	If Respondents do not provide Petitioner with a bond hearing under 8 U.S.C.
§ 1226(a), Petitioner be immediately released from detention.
Dated: January 23, 2026 	s/ John F. Docherty
JOHN F. DOCHERTY
United States Magistrate Judge
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NOTICE
Filing Objections: This Report and Recommendation is not an order or judgment of the
District Court and is therefore not appealable directly to the Eighth Circuit Court of
Appeals. Under D. Minn. LR 72.2(b)(1), “[a] party may file and serve specific written
objections to a magistrate judge’s proposed findings and recommendations within 14 days
after being served with a copy of the recommended disposition, unless the court sets a
different deadline.” (Emphasis added.) The Court modifies the deadline such that
objections are due on or before January 26, 2026. Responses to objections are due on
or before January 28, 2026. All objections and responses must comply with the word or
line limits set forth in Local Rule 72.2(c).
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