OK, first of all, a standard 2241 form is here.

This form allows you to type data in the form, so fill in the form with your computer, then print it and send it to the court.

Do not print the bank form and write your information on it.

You also need to file your 2241 petition in the federal district court in which you are held.

The Government has the authority to detain any alien during removal proceedings. However, the United States Supreme Court has also “reiterated the fundamental idea that aliens are protected by constitutional due process. 

Typically when an alien is taken into immigration custody he or she is allowed to be released on bail pending any sort of issues with his immigration status.

In some cases however the government will continue to detain an alien indefinitely pending the disposition of their case.

Typically aliens that are held without bail have repeated driving while intoxicated convictions, pending criminal cases or were convicted of an aggravated felony (A list of what an aggravated felony is located here).

The constitutionality of this practice, that is extended incarceration,  is a function of the length of the detention. Typically an alien’s incarceration does not start to become constitutionality problematic, that is that it violates the alien’s due process rights, until about the eighteen-month mark.

But in my experience, you can file a 2241 petition after you have been incarcerated by immigration after about one year since the whole court process will take about six months, and reach the eighteen months that courts will typically find ones immigration incarceration unreasonable.

When you file for an immigration 2241 petition you are asking the district court to order the immigration court to hold a bail hearing where the government will have the burden to prove by clear and convincing evidence that you are either a flight risk or a danger to society.

So just because you win a 2241 does not guarantee that you will be released on bail, it just entitles you to a bail hearing and shifts the burden away from you to prove that you are not a danger to society and not a flight risk to the government to prove that you are.

If you are unfamiliar with the law you can use the above form, but I typically like to brief the issues, and if you have been incarcerated for over eighteen months the courts will typically grant the 2241 and hold that you are entitled to a bond hearing.