Habeas Victory Against ORR: Beltrán v. Cardall

Beltrán v. Cardall, Case 1:15-cv-00745-JCC-JFA, E.D. Va., Alexandria Div., Nov. 22, 2016- "In December of 2013, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents detained RMB – a minor – and designated him an “unaccompanied alien child.” RMB was subsequently transferred to the care of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) and placed by that agency in “child welfare” custody. His mother – Petitioner Dora Beltrán – attempted to secure his release to her care. When ORR refused to release her son, she filed the instant Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus. On August 5, 2015, this Court denied the Petition and Petitioner appealed. The Fourth Circuit affirmed the judgment in part, vacated it in part, and remanded the case for further proceedings. The Court is now tasked with applying the test set out in Matthews v. Eldridge, 424 U.S. 319 (1976), to determine whether ORR’s family reunification procedures afforded RMB and Petitioner due process of law. The Court concludes that they did not. Accordingly, the Court will grant the Petition and order RMB’s release. ... A thorough description of the facts of this case may be found in this Court’s prior opinion, D.B. v. Poston, 119 F. Supp. 3d 472 (E.D. Va. 2015), and in the opinion of the Fourth Circuit, D.B. v. Cardall, 826 F.3d 721 (4th Cir. 2016)."

[Hats way off to Susan Watson and Catherine Norris, Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, and Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, Legal Aid Justice Center!]