Ortega-Cervantes

I. Background

Arturo Ortega-Cervantes, a citizen of Mexico, was appre- hended on June 8, 2002, together with fourteen other aliens who had been smuggled into the United States. In a Notice to Appear issued and served the following day, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (“INS”) charged Ortega-Cervantes with being removable from the United States as an unlawful entrant. See 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(A)(i). However, in order to secure his testimony in the criminal prosecution of his smug- gler, the INS conditionally released Ortega-Cervantes from INS detention on June 20, 2002.

The terms of Ortega-Cervantes’s June 20 release were set out in INS Form I-220A, “Order of Release on Recogni- zance.” The form stated that Ortega-Cervantes had been “ar- rested and placed in removal proceedings” but was being released “[i]n accordance with section 236 of the Immigration and Nationality Act [8 U.S.C. § 1226] and applicable provi- sions of Title 8 of the Code of Federal Regulations.” Among the conditions imposed on Ortega-Cervantes was a require- ment that he report to the INS “[a]t the conclusion of the ORTEGA-CERVANTES v. GONZALES 11381 criminal proceedings in which [he…