Kea W. Riggs
How Judge Riggs rules, drawn from 34 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
How Judge Riggs decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In two February 2026 immigration-detention cases, the court held that noncitizens who had lived in the United States for years after entering without inspection were detained under the discretionary framework of Section 1226(a), and it ordered individualized bond hearings rather than mandatory detention under Section 1225(b)(2)(A).
“The Court concludes that Petitioner’s detention pending a decision on whether he should be removed from the United States is governed by § 1226(a) as opposed to § 1225(b)(2)(A).”
Procedural preferences
In the sampled immigration-detention orders, the court distinguished between discretionary pre-removal detention, where it ordered bond hearings, and detention under a final removal order entered only about one month earlier, where it denied immediate release without prejudice as presumptively reasonable during the statutory removal period.
“Because the final removal order was entered about a month ago, Petitioner’s detention is presumptively reasonable under Section 1231 and Zadvydas, and the Motion for Immediate Release (Doc. 3) will be denied without prejudice.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment on Claims for Conversion and Unjust Enrichment (Doc. 70) is DENIED.”
“Defendant GEICO County's Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff's Complaint (Doc. 53) is hereby GRANTED ... GEICO County Mutual Insurance Company is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE for lack of personal jurisdiction.”
“Defendants' Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (Doc. 29) is GRANTED IN PART with respect to Count II for Defendants Trujillo and Flores, and Count III for Defendants PISD Board of Education and Trujillo. ... DENIED AS MOOT with respect to Count I.”
“For the reasons stated below, the Court DENIES the motions to reassign filed in the six cases identified above.”
“For these reasons, the Court finds that there was no violation of Defendant's statutory, due process, or constitutional speedy trial rights. IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Defendant's Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 90) is hereby DENIED.”
“Defendant has not demonstrated any compelling circumstances warranting amending the Court's original order. The Court will therefore DENY Defendant's Motion to Amend (Doc. 37).”
“which seeks to amend the Court's Memorandum Order and Opinion Granting Defendant's Partial Motion to Dismiss (doc. 34).”
“IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the eight motions to dismiss (Docs. 10, 12, 23, 25, 26, 36, 46, 63) are GRANTED IN PART.”
“Therefore, the motion is denied as moot.”
“IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the following motions are DENIED AS MOOT: Defendants' Motion to Strike Plaintiff's Putative Class Allegations (Doc. 7)”
“Defendant Viking Insurance Company of Wisconsin's Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 9)... DENIED AS MOOT.”
“IT IS ORDERED that the Application to Proceed in District Court Without Prepaying Fees or Costs (Doc. 2) is DENIED”
“IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that this matter is hereby DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“the Court will deny his Motion to Discharge Fees and Costs (Doc. 8).”
“Motions for Summary Judgment (Docs. 10, 11) are DENIED.”
“IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Plaintiff's Motion for Leave to file Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (Doc. 109) is hereby DENIED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 129 days (N = 9).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 109 days (N = 1).
Judge Riggs sits in Albuquerque. The sampled caseload combines illegal-reentry, firearms, and drug prosecutions with prisoner and other civil-rights actions, diversity motor-vehicle and contract disputes, federal habeas petitions, and removed cases. This describes caseload composition, not motion outcomes.
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