Immigration · Primary-source case analysis

Johnson v. Arteaga-Martinez: Section 1231(a)(6) Does Not Itself Require a Six-Month Bond Hearing

By Aneeta Mishra and Timothy Chan

Published April 16, 2026

Arteaga-Martinez separates what section 1231(a)(6) requires as a matter of statutory text from constitutional challenges to prolonged post-removal-period detention.

Detention during withholding-only proceedings

Antonio Arteaga-Martinez reentered after removal and was detained when ICE reinstated his prior order. After an asylum officer found a reasonable fear of persecution or torture, DHS placed him in withholding-only proceedings. He filed habeas after four months without a bond hearing.

The lower courts imposed a six-month hearing rule

Circuit precedent required a hearing after six months at which the government had to prove flight risk or danger by clear and convincing evidence. The district court granted that statutory relief, and an immigration judge ultimately authorized release after the ordered hearing.

The statute did not contain those procedures

The Supreme Court held that section 1231(a)(6) authorizes detention or supervised release but says nothing requiring a bond hearing before an immigration judge, a six-month trigger, or a clear-and-convincing burden. Zadvydas’s limit on detention reasonably necessary to accomplish removal did not supply the additional procedures.

Constitutional theories remained open

The Court reversed and remanded without deciding the constitutional challenge to prolonged detention or the alternative Zadvydas release theory because the lower courts had not addressed them. A petition must therefore distinguish the rejected automatic statutory rule from preserved as-applied constitutional claims.

Key takeaways

• Section 1231(a)(6) does not itself create the six-month hearing procedure imposed below.
• Zadvydas limits detention but did not establish that categorical bond framework.
• Constitutional challenges were left open for initial lower-court consideration.
• The detention statute, procedural posture, and precise remedy must be identified carefully.