Carlos R. Aragon Arias v. Pam Bondi, et al.

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA CARLOS R. ARAGON ARIAS CIVIL ACTION VERSUS NO. 26-461 PAM BONDI, ET AL. SECTION: D (3) ORDER AND REASONS Plaintiff Carlos R. Aragon Arias filed a habeas corpus petition pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241, challenging the validity of his detention in Winn Correctional Center on immigration charges. Before considering the merits of plaintiff’s petition, “the Court must determine as a threshold matter whether it has proper jurisdiction to entertain [p]laintiff’s habeas petition pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241(a).”1 “[T]he only district that may consider a habeas corpus challenge to present physical confinement pursuant to § 2241 is the district court in which the prisoner is confined.”2 Winn Correctional Center is located in Winnfield, Louisiana.3 Winnfield is located in the Winn Parish.4 Winn Parish is located in the Alexandria Division of the Western District of Louisiana.5 Plaintiff is confined in the Western District of Louisiana, and this Court does not have jurisdiction to consider plaintiff’s petition.6 Dada v. Witte, No. 20-1093, 2020 WL 1674129, at *2 (E.D. La. Apr. 6, 2020).

2 Id. (quoting United States v. McPhearson, 451 F.App’x 384, 387 (5th Cir. 2011)); 28 U.S.C. § 2241(d) (…the application may be filed in the district court for the district wherein such person is in custody…”).

3 Winn Correctional Center, U.S. IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT (last updated Feb. 25, 2026), https://www.ice.gov/detain/detention-facilities/winn-correctional-center.

4 Winn Parish Profile, LOCAL LOUISIANA, https://www.louisiana.gov/local-louisiana/winn-parish (last visited March 5, 2026).

5 Clerk’s Office, WESTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA, https://www.lawd.uscourts.gov/clerks-office (last visited March 5, 2026).

6 See Dada, 2020 WL 1674129, at *2—*3.

This Court, if it be in the interest of justice, may instead transfer plaintiff's petition to the Western District of Louisiana.’

Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that in the interest of justice the above-captioned matter is TRANSFERRED to the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, Alexandria Division.

New Orleans, Louisiana, March 6, 2026.

WENDY “fe!

United States District Judge See 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a) (“The district court of a district in which is filed a case laying venue in the wrong division or district shall dismiss, or if it be in the interest of justice, transfer such case to any district or division in which it could have been brought.”).