Saamishvili v. Flanagan

Background

Zurab Saamishvili, who is detained at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center, filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241. A § 2241 habeas petition is a request for judicial review of a person's custody or detention. Saamishvili's petition challenges his ongoing immigration proceedings.

Transfer

The Southern District of New York held that a court handling a § 2241 petition must have jurisdiction over the petitioner's custodian. For a petition challenging physical confinement, that jurisdiction generally lies in the federal district where the person is confined. The court found that the Brooklyn detention facility is in the Eastern District of New York and therefore transferred the action there in the interest of justice under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1404(a) and 1406(a), as cited in the order.

Additional Orders and Disposition

The court directed the clerk to transfer the action to the Eastern District of New York. To preserve the status quo and give that court an opportunity to consider the petition, the court enjoined, meaning prohibited, the government from removing Saamishvili from a facility within the Southern or Eastern Districts of New York unless the transferee court orders otherwise. The court waived the seven-day delay required by Local Civil Rule 83.1 and directed electronic notice to the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. Judge Edgardo Ramos ordered the transfer and stated that the order closed the case in the Southern District of New York. The court did not decide the merits of Saamishvili's challenge to his immigration proceedings.