Michigan father with leukemia released from federal custody following judge’s order

BY KATHERINE DAILEY, MICHIGAN ADVANCE

MICHIGAN—Eight noncitizen Michigan residents must be released or at least granted bond hearings within seven days, ruled Brandy R. McMillion, a federal judge in the Eastern District of Michigan, in a case brought by the ACLU of Michigan.

“Life and liberty are at stake,” McMillion wrote in her decision.

This includes lead plaintiff Jose Contreras-Cervantes, a longtime Michigan resident who was diagnosed with leukemia in 2024 and had not been consistently receiving his specialized care while in detention since August, according to his wife Lupita.

“This ruling provides incredible relief for me and my family,” Lupita wrote in an ACLU press release. “The stress created by the threats to Jose’s health because of the disruption of his treatment for a rare, life-threatening form of leukemia has been constant.”

The case centered around the question of which law should determine the due process rights granted. The government argued that it should be Section 1225(b)(2)(A), which would mandate continued detention until a decision had been made about each person’s deportation. The ACLU, on the other hand, argued that it should fall under Section 1226(a), which allows for their release on conditional parole or bond unless they are deemed to be a flight risk.

“Without first evaluating each Petitioner’s risk of flight or dangerousness, their detention is a violation of due process rights afforded to them,” McMillion wrote.

McMillion wrote in her opinion that the government has applied the latter provision in cases like these—cases not involving an immigrant actively crossing the border into the US—for the past 30 years.

“But now that the Government’s immigration policy has changed and Section 1225(b)(2)(A) is more favorable, they want the Court to declare that the historical application of Section 1226(a) is incorrect. Respondent simply cannot have it both ways,” she continued. “Put simply, Section 1225 applies to noncitizens ‘arriving to the country’ and Section 1226 governs detention of noncitizens ‘already in the country.’”

A video posted on Tuesday by the ACLU of Michigan shows Contreras-Cervantes being released from a Detroit processing center, where he has been detained. In the video, his three children—aged nine, eight and one, all US citizens—run to him as he leaves the detention facility.

ACLU Senior Staff Attorney Miriam Aukerman also highlighted that this case is the latest in a series of court decisions, in Michigan and in other states, where federal judges have ruled to grant due process to detained noncitizens. That includes the case of Detroit resident Juan Manuel Lopez-Campos, also represented by the ACLU of Michigan, who was released in September.

“This decision is the latest among dozens of cases where federal judges have ruled that ICE cannot hold people without bond hearings,” Aukerman wrote. “Yet, ICE hasn’t stopped. It’s continuing to lock people up without any due process regardless of whether they’ve lived here for decades, regardless of whether they have families and children who need them, and regardless of how deeply rooted they are in their community.”

READ MORE: Judge orders a path to release for immigrant with leukemia facing deportation

This coverage was republished from Michigan Advance pursuant to a Creative Commons license.