COVID-19 Summary: This is a lawsuit regarding the conditions at the Prarieland Detention Center in Texas. Eleven immigration detainees requested a temporary restraining order in May 2020, which was denied by the court. The detainees filed an interlocutory appeal, which they subsequently moved to dismiss in January 2021.
On May 15, 2020, eleven immigration detainees at high risk for COVID-19 or who had already tested positive for COVID-19 filed this lawsuit against two Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, the warden of the Prarieland Detention Center (PDC), and the acting director of Homeland Security in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. Represented by the Immigrant Rights Clinic at Texas A&M School of Law, Refugee & Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, and Loevy & Loevy, the plaintiffs sought writs of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241, as well as declaratory and injunctive relief. The plaintiffs also filed a motion for temporary restraining order on the same day. The case was assigned to Judge Jane J. Boyle and Magistrate Judge David L. Horan.
The detainees alleged that, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, their continued detention violated their Fifth Amendment rights to due process, and they therefore sought release from PDC. The court separated each of the detainees' cases into separate lawsuits, and three of three of the detainees voluntarily dismissed their claims on May 27, 2020, after their release from detention. Two days later, the remaining detainees filed a consolidated reply to the motion for temporary restraining order.
Following a hearing, on June 6, Judge Boyle denied the plaintiffs' requests for release and dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction. 2020 WL 3051448. The court found that habeas relief was not appropriate, since the detainees were not alleging that their detainment was unlawful. Judge Boyle reasoned that, at the time of this opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court had not ruled on whether conditions of confinement claims could be brought in a petition of habeas corpus. However, the court noted that the detainees could challenge the conditions of their confinement under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).
The plaintiffs then filed an interlocutory appeal to the Fifth Circuit Court on July 28 (Docket no. 20-10781). However, the plaintiffs filed a motion to dismiss the appeal on January 15, 2021, which the court granted.
The Clearinghouse does not have access to many of the documents in this case at this time, however, the case is believed to now be closed with no further docket entries.
Zofia Peach - 03/03/2021
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