The petitioner, an Iranian citizen who entered the United States in 1999, was ordered removed on 13 November 2002 after criminal convictions in Illinois. ICE released him on an order of supervision on 22 October 2012, and he remained on release for nearly thirteen years until ICE detained him on 17 September 2025. He was held at the Miami Correctional Facility, a facility of the Indiana Department of Correction, and filed the petition without a lawyer. The court held, by reference to its earlier decision in Liang v. English, that “jurisdiction is secure insofar as this opinion goes,” despite the government’s reliance on 8 U.S.C. § 1252(g) and § 1252(b)(9). The government identified Iran as the only country under consideration. An ICE official attested on 13 April 2026 that “the airspace over Iran is closed which has paused removals to Iran” and that “[r]emovals will resume once the airspace reopens.” The court found that the petitioner had shown good reason to believe removal was not foreseeable, noting the recent military conflict “between the United States and Iran and the present uncertainty of a resolution, which reasonably impedes any removal to Iran for the foreseeable future.” The court held that the government had not rebutted that showing. It found that “the precise relationship between the efforts to remove Mr. Khodabakhsh and the closure of Iran’s airspace is unclear,” that “it is less clear how closed airspace would hinder efforts to obtain travel documents,” and that the government did not explain why travel documents had not been obtained “after eight months of detention, five of which predate the current conflict with Iran,” or suggest that a formal request had been submitted. The court said it “has no insight into if or when an agreement allowing removals to continue might be reached. More important, the government has presented no such insight, so has not met its burden today.” It ordered his release on the same conditions as his last release, adding that efforts to remove him “may continue while he returns to supervision.”
Caution A district court decision, binding only on the parties. The order concerns detention only: removal to Iran remains the government’s stated aim, and the court said efforts to remove him may continue. No third country and no protection from removal appear in the order. The court’s assessment of the conflict with Iran and the closure of Iranian airspace is as of 22 May 2026.
Prolonged detention (Zadvydas) Redetention Order of supervision Travel documents Jurisdiction 1252(g) Self-represented petitioner
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