habeas corpus

The Michigan Supreme Court declined to hear a habeas corpus case for seven chimpanzees at the DeYoung Family Zoo, upholding lower courts' decisions that chimpanzees are not 'persons' under the law. Justice Elizabeth Welch dissented, arguing the law could evolve to recognize animal rights based on scientific understanding.

A nonprofit law firm, Immigrant Defenders Law Center, created a bilingual resource to teach detainees at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center and Desert View Annex how to file habeas corpus petitions to challenge their detentions. The resource targets individuals with open immigration court cases or pending appeals who were previously released but re-detained. The initiative responds to increased detentions without bond and reports of unsafe conditions at ICE facilities.

A human rights organization, Cubalex, filed a habeas corpus petition to determine the whereabouts of Cuban dissident artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, who was arrested in 2021 and expected to be released but was removed from Guanajay prison last week. The Cuban government does not recognize Alcántara as a political prisoner, despite designations by groups like Amnesty International.

Orolua Eluonyechie, detained by ICE since April 2024, has not seen his son in two years and faces prolonged detention amid policy changes enabling mass deportations. Louisiana's federal courts are overwhelmed with over 1,200 habeas petitions in 2026 from detained immigrants seeking release or deportation resolution.

The Hawai‘i Supreme Court will decide if elephants Mari and Vaigai at the Honolulu Zoo should be granted constitutional rights and relocated to a sanctuary. The lawsuit argues the zoo violates their rights by keeping them in a small enclosure, while the zoo claims it provides adequate care and enrichment.

A proposal by Trump administration deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller to suspend habeas corpus for undocumented immigrants was rejected by White House staff secretary Will Scharf. The Supreme Court had previously ruled that detained individuals, including alleged Venezuelan gang members, retain due process rights to challenge their detention via habeas corpus.

Maria Celeste, an asylum-seeking immigrant, and her fiancé Antony, a detained Honduran citizen, face family separation after Border Patrol arrested Antony during a routine commute. Antony, detained at Adams County Correctional Center, is challenging his incarceration through a habeas corpus petition, arguing it violates his due process rights.

The second Trump administration considered suspending habeas corpus rights for unauthorized immigrants. The proposal involved an expansive claim of presidential power related to constitutional protections.

KFF Health News and The Associated Press analyzed immigration habeas corpus claims to identify allegations of medical neglect in ICE detention centers during the second Trump administration. They reviewed 33,000 cases, finding 500 with potential medical neglect claims, and manually verified over 300 cases with specific allegations of inadequate healthcare.

Detainees in U.S. immigration facilities across 33 states allege medical neglect, including untreated infections, denied medications, and delayed care for chronic conditions like diabetes and HIV. Federal lawsuits and interviews reveal systemic failures in providing timely healthcare, with ICE detaining over 75,000 immigrants as of mid-January 2024.