4 ms·

There is a copy of a court order here which gives more legal details [https://www.universalhub.com/files/attachments/2026/culleton-ruling.pdf https://www.univer

There is a copy of a court order here which gives more legal details [https://www.universalhub.com/files/attachments/2026/culleton-ruling.pdf https://www.universalhub.com/files/attachments/2026/culleton...] > The Fifth Circuit has held that the VWP statute “‘unambiguously’ limits an alien’s means of contesting removal solely to an application for asylum.” McCarthy v. Mukasey, 555 F.3d 459, 460 (5th Cir. 2009) (citation omitted). And once an individual violates the terms of the VWP by remaining in the United States for more than ninety days, the individual is no longer entitled to contest removal on any other basis. Id. at 462. This is true even when an individual has a pending adjustment of status application on the basis of their marriage to a U.S. citizen. Id. at 460, 462. > Culleton concedes he is removable under the VWP. Reply 10. But he argues that because USCIS accepted and began processing his adjustment of status application, he is entitled to due process protections in its fair adjudication. Id. at 9. The Fifth Circuit has foreclosed this very argument, reasoning that the VWP waiver includes a waiver of due process rights. See Mukasey, 555 F.3d at 462. And “[t]he fact that [Culleton] applied for an adjustment of status before the DHS issued its notice of removal is of no consequence.” Id.

empath75 8mo ago
People should know the legal context of this, which is that the Fifth Circuit is out of step with every other circuit in the country on this.
- mikeyouse 8mo ago
  Two judges on the 5th overturned what ~150 other judges have found, including some extremely right wing Trump-appointed ones. Just shambolic. https://www.lawdork.com/p/fifth-circuit-immigration-detention-ruling https://www.lawdork.com/p/fifth-circuit-immigration-detentio...
insane_dreamer 8mo ago
It's shocking that the court could determine this when the whole process of getting permanent residency involves an adjustment of status that allows you to remain in the country even though your visa has expired so long as your application is being processed (which can take a very long time). You just can't leave the country. So to arrest someone while they are following the steps they're supposed to be following, is similar to entrapment (do X and you'll be ok, then they do X and get arrested).
- kcplate 8mo ago
  > So to arrest someone while they are following the steps they're supposed to be following I think the issue complicating this man’s situation is that it appears when you dig into the details that for nearly 16 years he was skirting the system and only tried getting his legal situation resolved just a few months prior to his detainment. He is choosing to fight it which is resulting in the long detention. Personally I believe we need some legal carve outs for this type of situation, but there is simply no doubt that this guy made a series of poor decisions prior to April of 2025 that has created the situation he is in.
  - insane_dreamer 8mo ago
    yeah, probably so. but what should matter is whether you're in compliance _now_. But if we do really want to arrest people who were at some point out of compliance in terms of their visa status, let's start with Elon and Melania, and we can talk about going through everyone's else's history and deporting them if they broke the immigration rules.
    - kcplate 8mo ago
      Sometimes the details betray the narrative. I believe even more strongly that this guy created his own mess after reading the ruling. https://www.universalhub.com/files/attachments/2026/culleton-ruling.pdf https://www.universalhub.com/files/attachments/2026/culleton... There are quite a few missing but important details not in the news story. Apparently he complicated matters and put himself into a no win legal situation by choosing against applying for asylum. The “forged” signatures turned out to be a close match to checks that were provided to the court that he admitted to signing. He also admitted to the court that his memory was hazy around that time. There was also no need for immigration officials to forge his name on those documents because if he refused to sign the notice document it had the same legal result as if he did. SOP would be for an immigration official to simply indicate “refusal to sign” on the document. Unfortunately our laws don’t always protect us from ourselves.
  - tpm 8mo ago

empath75 8mo ago

People should know the legal context of this, which is that the Fifth Circuit is out of step with every other circuit in the country on this.

mikeyouse 8mo ago
Two judges on the 5th overturned what ~150 other judges have found, including some extremely right wing Trump-appointed ones. Just shambolic. https://www.lawdork.com/p/fifth-circuit-immigration-detention-ruling https://www.lawdork.com/p/fifth-circuit-immigration-detentio...

insane_dreamer 8mo ago

It's shocking that the court could determine this when the whole process of getting permanent residency involves an adjustment of status that allows you to remain in the country even though your visa has expired so long as your application is being processed (which can take a very long time). You just can't leave the country. So to arrest someone while they are following the steps they're supposed to be following, is similar to entrapment (do X and you'll be ok, then they do X and get arrested).

kcplate 8mo ago
> So to arrest someone while they are following the steps they're supposed to be following I think the issue complicating this man’s situation is that it appears when you dig into the details that for nearly 16 years he was skirting the system and only tried getting his legal situation resolved just a few months prior to his detainment. He is choosing to fight it which is resulting in the long detention. Personally I believe we need some legal carve outs for this type of situation, but there is simply no doubt that this guy made a series of poor decisions prior to April of 2025 that has created the situation he is in.
- insane_dreamer 8mo ago
  yeah, probably so. but what should matter is whether you're in compliance _now_. But if we do really want to arrest people who were at some point out of compliance in terms of their visa status, let's start with Elon and Melania, and we can talk about going through everyone's else's history and deporting them if they broke the immigration rules.
  - kcplate 8mo ago
    Sometimes the details betray the narrative. I believe even more strongly that this guy created his own mess after reading the ruling. https://www.universalhub.com/files/attachments/2026/culleton-ruling.pdf https://www.universalhub.com/files/attachments/2026/culleton... There are quite a few missing but important details not in the news story. Apparently he complicated matters and put himself into a no win legal situation by choosing against applying for asylum. The “forged” signatures turned out to be a close match to checks that were provided to the court that he admitted to signing. He also admitted to the court that his memory was hazy around that time. There was also no need for immigration officials to forge his name on those documents because if he refused to sign the notice document it had the same legal result as if he did. SOP would be for an immigration official to simply indicate “refusal to sign” on the document. Unfortunately our laws don’t always protect us from ourselves.
- tpm 8mo ago