Amouzou Kol v. U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA LAFAYETTE DIVISION AMOUZOU KOL CASE NO. 6:26-CV-00326 SEC P VERSUS JUDGE ALEXANDER C. VAN HOOK U.S. IMMIGRATION & CUSTOMS MAGISTRATE JUDGE LEBLANC ENFORCEMENT ORDER Before the Court is a petition for writ of habeas corpus (rec. doc. 1) filed by petitioner Amouzou Kol pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241. Petitioner is an immigration detainee in the custody of the Department of Homeland Security / U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“DHS/ICE”). He is presently detained at the Adams County Correctional Center in Natchez, Mississippi.1 A writ of habeas corpus may be granted by district courts only “within their respective jurisdictions.” 28 U.S.C. § 2241(a); see also Rumsfeld v. Padilla, 542 U.S. 426, 442 (2004). The United States Supreme Court has “interpreted this language to require ‘nothing more than that the court issuing the writ have jurisdiction over the custodian.’” Padilla, 542 U.S. at 442 (quoting Braden v. 30th Judicial Circuit Court of Ky., 410 U.S. 484, 495 (1973)). To this point, the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has “firmly stated that the district of incarceration is the only district that has jurisdiction to entertain a defendant’s § 2241 petition.” Lee v. Wetzel, 244 F.3d 370, 373 (5th Cir. 2001).

Petitioner is not incarcerated in this district, nor was he in this district at the time of filing the current petition for habeas relief. See doc. 1. Instead, Petitioner is confined in Natchez, Petitioner was detained at the Adams County Correctional Center in Natchez, Mississippi, at the time of filing the instant petition, as well.

Mississippi, which is in Adams County, and Adams County, Mississippi, lies within the geographical boundaries of the Southern District of Mississippi (Western Division). 28 U.S.C. § 104(b)(4). The Court, therefore, finds that the Southern District of Mississippi (Western Division) is the proper district court to consider this petition.

Under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a), for the convenience of parties and witnesses and in the interest of justice, a district court may transfer any civil action to any other district or division where it could have been brought. Such a transfer may be ordered sua sponte. Mills v. Beech Aircraft Corp., 886 F.2d 758, 761 (Sth Cir. 1989).

Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that the petition filed by Amouzou Kol be and is_ hereby TRANSFERRED to the Southern District of Mississippi (Western Division) for further proceedings. See 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a).

SIGNED in Chambers on Thursday, February 19, 2026. a {NZ UNITED SPATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE -2-