Habeas Corpus Attorney in Waco, Texas

Detention is meant to serve a purpose, not to punish. When months pass without any hearing on whether custody is still justified, some federal courts have found due process concerns. Whether a court orders a hearing depends on the length of detention, the reasons for delay and that district's case law.

After a removal order becomes final, the government generally has a set period to carry it out. If removal is not reasonably foreseeable, such as when the home country will not issue travel documents, continued detention may be challenged in federal court. Both the government's removal efforts and the person's own cooperation with travel document requests matter in that review.

Some people are held without a bond hearing because ICE classifies them as subject to mandatory detention. That classification is sometimes wrong. An old conviction may not fit the category claimed, or the circumstances of entry may matter. A habeas petition can ask the federal court to decide whether the rule applies.

Many immigration judges now conclude they lack authority to consider bond for people who entered without inspection. Whether the law requires this result has been argued in federal courts nationwide, with different results in different districts. Our immigration attorneys track those decisions closely, because the location of the court often shapes the answer.

Our immigration attorneys review the detention history, the court record and any criminal record, then evaluate whether a petition is worth filing in the district where you are held. If so, we prepare and file it, respond to the government's arguments and coordinate with the removal case. See our removal defense page.