• videocam Encore Webinar with Live Q&A
  • calendar_month May 8, 2026 @ 1:00 PM ET/10:00 AM PT
  • signal_cellular_alt Intermediate
  • card_travel Immigration
  • schedule 90 minutes

Habeas Tools and Tactics Against Immigration Detention: Strategy, Procedure, and Litigation

$0.00

This course is $0 with these passes:

CLE
ALL
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About the Course

Introduction

This CLE webinar will discuss using habeas petitions as a frontline defense in the expanded current detention landscape. DHS and ORR have applied increasingly assertive custody practices, from expedited removal orders to re-detention of long-term residents and refusal to release unaccompanied children to their family members; even noncitizens with pending benefits applications may face unexpected confinement. Counsel must be prepared to deploy habeas strategically and quickly.

Description

The panel will examine procedural mechanics, custody and immediate custodian rules, non-Rule-26 discovery, evidentiary hearings, and emerging uses of the All Writs Act in federal habeas practice. The program will also examine the constitutional limits on civil immigration detention, challenges related to expedited removal, and using habeas to return clients to a jurisdiction after improper transfers. The panel will conclude by surveying recent litigation trends, key federal court developments, and the practical lessons to practitioners.

Listen as our panel discusses these issues and other critical considerations for counsel seeking to protect detained noncitizens through federal habeas practice.

Credit Information

  • This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.


  • Live Online


    On Demand

Date + Time

  • event

    Friday, May 8, 2026

  • schedule

    1:00 PM ET/10:00 AM PT

I. Introduction

II. Jurisdiction, custody, and procedural foundations

A. Immediate custodian rule

B. Venue selection and transfer problems

C. Threshold jurisdictional challenges

III. The habeas record

A. When evidentiary hearings are required

B. Pursuing non-Rule-26 discovery

C. Using declarations, medical records, and custody documentation

IV. Strategic uses of habeas

A. Challenging prolonged or mandatory detention, including for special populations like unaccompanied children in ORR custody

B. Securing clients' return to a jurisdiction

C. The All Writs Act and ancillary motions

V. Habeas and expedited removal

A. Impact of recent federal litigation

B. Framing challenges to unlawful or ultra vires expedited removals

C. Credible fear, reasonable fear, and reinstatement processes

VI. Appeals and preservation

A. Standards of review on appeal

B. Protecting issues for the circuit courts

C. Anticipating government arguments and mootness problems

VII. Practitioner takeaways

The panel will discuss these and other questions:

  • Framing habeas claims challenging immigration detention
  • Procedural issues that arise regarding custody, jurisdiction, and the "immediate custodian" rule
  • Obtaining evidentiary hearings and non-Rule-26 discovery
  • Using the All Writs Act and related motions
  • Most effective strategies challenging expedited removal or improper transfers