The Supreme Court has reversed Ninth Circuit precedent allowing the recipient of a negative credible fear determination to challenge that decision through a habeas petition in District Court. The Court noted that the relief sought was not release from unlawful restraint, which is the traditional relief granted by a habeas petition.
“This principle dooms respondent’s Suspension Clause argument, because neither respondent nor his amici have shown that the writ of habeas corpus was understood at the time of the adoption of the Constitution to permit a petitioner to claim the right to enter or remain in a country or to obtain administrative review potentially leading to that result. The writ simply provided a means of contesting the lawfulness of restraint and securing release.”
Perhaps even more alarming is the Court’s analysis of the petitioner’s due process rights. The petitioner physically entered the United States, and was apprehended about 25 yards from the border. Despite his entry, the Court determined that he no constitutional right to due process.
The full text of DHS v. Thuraissigiam can be found here:
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/19-161_g314.pdf