# Karmanova v. South Louisiana I C E Processing Center

> District Court, W.D. Louisiana · August 8, 2025

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/11134107

## Case

- **Court:** District Court, W.D. Louisiana
- **Decided:** August 8, 2025
- **Opinion:** 100trialcourt
- **Cited by:** 0 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

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## Opinion text

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
LAFAYETTE DIVISION

VIKTORIIA KARMANOVA DOCKET NO. 6:25-cv-00803
A249-138-137

VERSUS JUDGE ROBERT R. SUMMERHAYS

SOUTH LOUISIANA ICE PROCESSING MAGISTRATE JUDGE DAVID J. AYO
CENTER

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

Before the court is a petition for writ of habeas corpus filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §
2241 by pro se petitioner Viktoriia Karmanova on June 9, 2025. (Rec. Doc. 1). Karmanova
is an immigration detainee in the custody of the Department of Homeland Security/U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("DHS/ICE") and is currently detained at the South
Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, Louisiana.
This matter has been referred to the undersigned for review, report, and
recommendation in accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 636 and the standing orders of this Court.
For the reasons stated below, IT IS RECOMMENDED that the matter be DENIED and
DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.
I. BACKGROUND

Karmanova is a native and citizen of Russia. She has been in ICE custody since
August 2024 after she requested asylum at a U.S. port of entry. (Rec. Doc. 1 at 7). At the
time of filing, she had passed her Credible Fear Interview yet remained in pre-removal
detention without bond or parole. Id.
According to the EOIR Automated Case Information website, a final order of removal
was entered on June 18, 20251. No appeal was filed. Id.

1 https://acis.eoir.justice.gov/en/caseInformation
II. LAW & ANALYSIS

A. Screening of Habeas Corpus Petitions
A district court may apply any or all of the rules governing habeas petitions filed
under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 to those filed under Section 2241. See Rule 1(b), Rules Governing §
2254 Cases in the United States District Courts. Rule 4 of the Rules Governing § 2254 Cases
authorizes preliminary review of such petitions and states that they must be summarily
dismissed “[i]f it plainly appears from the petition and any attached exhibits that the
petitioner is not entitled to relief.” To avoid summary dismissal under Rule 4, the petition
must contain factual allegations pointing to a “real possibility of constitutional error.” Id. at
Rule 4, advisory committee note (quoting Aubut v. Maine, 431 F.2d 688, 689 (1st Cir. 1970)).
Accordingly, the Court review the pleadings and exhibits before it to determine whether any
right to relief is indicated or whether the petition must be dismissed.
B. Analysis
At the time she filed the instant petition, Karmanova was in pre-removal order
detention. On June 18, 2025, an Immigration Judge ordered her removed and that order
became final on July 18, 2025.2 Since then, she has been in post-removal order detention.
See 8 U.S.C. § 1231.
Under Section 1231(a)(1)(A), ICE has 90 days to remove an alien after he is ordered
removed. However, the Supreme Court has held that Section 1231 permits the detention
beyond 90 days, for a period reasonably necessary to bring about that alien’s removal from

2An order of removal “shall become final upon the earlier of—(i) a determination by the Board of Immigration
Appeals affirming such order; or (ii) the expiration of the period in which the alien is permitted to seek review of
such order by the Board of Immigration Appeals.” See 8 U.S.C. § 1101(47)(B). 8 C.F.R. 3.38 requires that a Notice
of Appeal shall be received by the Board of Appeals within 30 calendar days of the Immigration Judge’s ruling. See
Smith v. Conner, 250 F.3d 277 (5th Cir. 2001).
the United States. See Zadvydas v. Davis, 533 U.S. 678, 701 (2001). Detention for up to six
months after the removal order becomes final is presumptively reasonable. Id.
After six months, however, once the alien provides good reason to believe that there
is no significant likelihood of removal in the reasonably foreseeable future, the government
must respond with evidence sufficient to rebut that showing. The six-month presumption
does not mean that every alien not removed must be released after six months. To the
contrary, an alien may be held in confinement until it has been determined that there is no

significant likelihood of removal in the reasonably foreseeable future. See Zadvydas, 533 U.S.
at 701.
Because Karmanova’s removal order became final on July 18, 2025, she has not been
in post-removal-order detention longer than the presumptively reasonable six-month period
set forth in Zadvydas. Thus, the instant habeas petition should be dismissed as premature.
See Okpoju v. Ridge, 115 F. App’x 302 (5th Cir. 2004), cert. denied, 544 U.S. 1066, 125 S. Ct.
2528, 161 L. Ed. 2d 1120 (2005); see also Chance v. Napolitano, 453 F. App’x 535 (5th Cir.
2011); Agyei-Kodie v. Holder, 418 F. App’x 317, 318 (5th Cir. 2011) (although 90-day period
had expired, challenge to detention was premature because petitioner had not been in post-
removal-order custody more than six months)
III.
CONCLUSION

For the reasons stated above, Karmanova’s petition fails to state a claim for relief
under 28 U.S.C. § 2241. Accordingly, IT IS RECOMMENDED that the petition be DENIED
and DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.
IT IS FURTHER RECOMMENDED that all pending motions be DENIED as
MOOT.
Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(C) and Rule 72(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure, the parties have fourteen (14) days from receipt of this Report and
Recommendation to file written objections with the Clerk of Court. Failure to file written
objections to the proposed factual findings and/or the proposed legal conclusions reflected in
this Report and Recommendation within fourteen (14) days of receipt shall bar an aggrieved
party from attacking either the factual findings or the legal conclusions accepted by the
District Court, except upon grounds of plain error.
THUS DONE AND SIGNED in chambers this 8th day of August, 2025.

David J. Ayo
United States Magistrate Judge

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/11134107. Public record. Not legal advice.
