Arias v. Bondi et al

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
CARLOS R. ARAGON ARIAS 	CIVIL ACTION
VERSUS 	NO. 26-461
PAM BONDI, ET AL. 	SECTION: D (3)
ORDER AND REASONS
Plaintiff Carlos R. Aragon Arias filed a habeas corpus petition pursuant to 28
U.S.C. § 2241, challenging the validity of his detention in Winn Correctional Center
on immigration charges. Before considering the merits of plaintiff’s petition, “the
Court must determine as a threshold matter whether it has proper jurisdiction to
entertain [p]laintiff’s habeas petition pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241(a).”1 “[T]he only
district that may consider a habeas corpus challenge to present physical confinement
pursuant to § 2241 is the district court in which the prisoner is confined.”2
Winn Correctional Center is located in Winnfield, Louisiana.3 Winnfield is
located in the Winn Parish.4 Winn Parish is located in the Alexandria Division of the
Western District of Louisiana.5 Plaintiff is confined in the Western District of
Louisiana, and this Court does not have jurisdiction to consider plaintiff’s petition.6
1 Dada v. Witte, No. 20-1093, 2020 WL 1674129, at *2 (E.D. La. Apr. 6, 2020).
2 Id. (quoting United States v. McPhearson, 451 F.App’x 384, 387 (5th Cir. 2011)); 28 U.S.C. § 2241(d)
(…the application may be filed in the district court for the district wherein such person is in
custody…”).
3 Winn Correctional Center, U.S. IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT (last updated
Feb. 25, 2026), https://www.ice.gov/detain/detention-facilities/winn-correctional-center.
4 Winn Parish Profile, LOCAL LOUISIANA, https://www.louisiana.gov/local-louisiana/winn-parish
(last visited March 5, 2026).
5 Clerk’s Office, WESTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA, https://www.lawd.uscourts.gov/clerks-office
(last visited March 5, 2026).
6 See Dada, 2020 WL 1674129, at *2—*3.
Case 2:26-cv-00461-WBV-EJD Document 2 Filed 03/06/26 Page 1 of 2

This Court, if it be in the interest of justice, may instead transfer plaintiff’s petition
to the Western District of Louisiana.7
Accordingly,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that in the interest of justice the above-captioned
matter is TRANSFERRED to the United States District Court for the Western
District of Louisiana, Alexandria Division.
New Orleans, Louisiana, March 6, 2026.
_____________________________
WENDY B. VITTER
United States District Judge
7 See 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a) (“The district court of a district in which is filed a case laying venue in the
wrong division or district shall dismiss, or if it be in the interest of justice, transfer such case to any
district or division in which it could have been brought.”).
Case 2:26-cv-00461-WBV-EJD Document 2 Filed 03/06/26 Page 2 of 2