Diaz-Zaldierna

ORDER DENYING PETITION FOR WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS

Petitioner, a deportable legal permanent resident alien, has filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 . Petitioner challenges the constitutionality of the Attorney General’s lack of discretion, under 8 U.S.C. § 1226 (c), to release him on bail pending the outcome of his removal proceedings (referred to interchangeably as “deportation” proceedings). Specifically, the issue is whether § 1226(e)’s mandatory-detention provision violates petitioner’s right to due process of law under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution by denying him an individualized determination of his suitability for release on bail. For the reasons set forth below, the Court holds that § 1226(c), at least as applied in this case, does not infringe on petitioner’s due process rights. Accordingly, the petition is .DENIED.

I. Background

Petitioner is a Mexican citizen and legal permanent resident of the United States. In 1997, petitioner was convicted in state court of violating California Health and Safety Code § 11350, which proscribes possession of certain controlled substances (in this case, 0.36 grams of cocaine base,…