Mayual A. v. Secretary Homeland Security

Background

Mayual A. filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, a request for court relief from allegedly unlawful detention. He represented himself. The court considered a Report and Recommendation issued by United States Magistrate Judge David T. Schultz on April 5, 2019. No objections were filed.

After the report, the respondents submitted a supplemental response and a declaration from a deportation officer. The declaration stated that Mayual A. had been removed to South Sudan on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement charter flight on April 11, 2019.

Court’s Analysis

The court concluded that the petition was moot because Mayual A. was no longer in detention and the court could not effectively order his release. The court considered possible exceptions to mootness, including continuing injuries, issues likely to recur while avoiding review, voluntary cessation of an allegedly unlawful practice, and properly certified class actions. It found that none applied: there were no surviving collateral injuries, the detention was not likely to recur because Mayual A. had been removed, the respondents had consistently and diligently worked to carry out the removal, and the case was not a class action.

The court conducted the required independent review of the record and adopted Magistrate Judge Schultz’s Report and Recommendation as modified.

Disposition

The court ordered that the Report and Recommendation be adopted as modified. It dismissed Mayual A.’s petition without prejudice as moot and directed that judgment be entered.