Written by ASAP’s expert immigration lawyers · Updated
This is a notice that you may receive if you are in immigration detention. The notice explains that there is a lawsuit called Maldonado Bautista. Under the lawsuit, if you crossed the border without encountering immigration officials, you may be able to ask for a bond hearing. At a bond hearing, you can ask an immigration judge for release from detention.
In some immigration detention centers, the government is giving this notice to all immigrants, whether or not the Maldonado Bautista lawsuit applies to them.
If you crossed the border without encountering immigration officials, the lawsuit may apply to you and you can try to ask for a bond hearing. In your bond hearing request, you can include these 4 documents: court order, court order, class certification order, and final judgment.
If your request for a bond hearing is denied, you can also consider submitting a habeas petition to a federal court asking for release from detention. You can find a sample habeas petition on this website - scroll down to “Legal Announcements,” and under “Maldonado Bautista v. Santacruz,” click on “Maldonado Habeas Template.”
If you have questions, you can look for lawyers here.
The Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP) aims to provide factual information about current immigration laws. This information is not legal advice.
All legal content is written and legally reviewed by ASAP’s team of expert immigration lawyers. ASAP’s expert lawyers have decades of experience in immigration law and litigation. Collectively, they have won hundreds of cases. Our lawyers are admitted to the Bar in several U.S. states, hold law degrees from universities including Harvard, Yale, and UCLA, and have won multiple awards for their legal work.