United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit FILED March 10, 2021 No. 20-60067 Lyle W. Cayce Clerk United States of America, Plaintiff—Appellant, versus Melecia Baltazar-Sebastian, Defendant—Appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi USDC No. 3:19-CR-173-1 Before Barksdale, Southwick, and Graves, Circuit Judges. Rhesa Hawkins Barksdale, Circuit Judge: Primarily at issue is whether the United States Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) may, under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. § 1101 et seq., civilly detain a criminal defendant after she has been granted pretrial release pursuant to the Bail Reform Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3141 et seq. We hold there is no conflict between the statutes preventing defendant’s detainment. VACATED. No. 20-60067 I. Melecia Baltazar-Sebastian is a Guatemalan citizen residing in the Southern District of Mississippi. In August 2019, she was arrested at her place of employment during an ICE worksite enforcement action. After Baltazar admitted she was not in possession of proper immigration documents, ICE took her into custody. She was civilly charged with being inadmissible under the INA and was booked into an ICE processing center in Jena, Louisiana (there are no ICE facilities in Mississippi dedicated to more than 72-hours’ detention). See 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a). Later that month, a grand jury in Mississippi indicted Baltazar for misusing a social-security number, in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 408(a)(7)(B). A warrant was issued for her arrest; and, in response, ICE transferred her to the United States Marshal for the Southern District of Mississippi for her initial appearance on her indictment. Before she was transferred, however, ICE lodged a detainer, which advised the Marshal that it sought custody of Baltazar in the event of her release (ICE detention). See 8 C.F.R. § 287.7(a). In September, after Baltazar pleaded not guilty to her criminal charges, the magistrate judge held a hearing in Jackson, Mississippi, to determine Baltazar’s eligibility for pretrial release under the Bail Reform Act (BRA). Concluding she was not a flight risk or danger to the community, the magistrate judge ordered her released on bond subject to conditions (September release order). See 18 U.S.C. § 3142(b). The conditions required, inter alia, that she “remain in the Southern District of Mississippi at all times during the pendency of these proceedings unless special permission is obtained from the Court”. The Government did not then challenge the September release order. See 18 U.S.C. § 3145(a). Notwithstanding the September release order, ICE retook custody of Baltazar based on its prior detainer and returned her to its detention facility 2 No. 20-60067 in Jena, Louisiana (almost 200 miles away). In late September, while she remained in ICE detention, a magistrate judge granted the United States’ motion for writ of habeas corpus ad prosequendum to facilitate Baltazar’s appearance at a pretrial hearing in Jackson, Mississippi, for her criminal case. Baltazar then requested a hearing in that case to clarify her status under …
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