Mayorov v. United States

• Decision Date: 23 March 2015
• Docket Number: No. 13 C 5249,13 C 5249
• Parties: Sergey Mayorov, Plaintiff, v. United States of America, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois

84 F.Supp.3d 678

Sergey Mayorov, Plaintiff

v.United States of America, Defendant.

No. 13 C 5249

United States District Court, N.D. Illinois, Eastern Division.

Signed March 23, 2015

Debra Rae Bernard, Perkins Coie LLP, Abiman Rajadurai, Littler Mendelson, P.C., Mark M. Fleming, Chicago, IL, for Plaintiff.

James Michael Kuhn, AUSA, United States Attorney's Office, Chicago, IL, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

REBECCA R. PALLMEYER, United States District Judge

Plaintiff Sergey Mayorov, a United States citizen, pleaded guilty to residential burglary in Illinois state court in 2010. He received a four-year prison term but was placed in Illinois' “impact incarceration” program, an alternative sentencing program in which individuals serve just 120 days in “boot camp.” An offender who successfully completes boot camp will be released from custody without having to serve a custodial prison sentence. Halfway through Mayorov's time in boot camp, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) Officers issued an immigration detainer against him. The ICE detainer requested that the Illinois Department of Corrections (“IDOC”) hold Mayorov up to an additional 48 hours after he would otherwise be released so that he could be detained by the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) for investigation of whether he was lawfully present in the United States. Because ICE is prohibited as a matter of law from detaining United States citizens, however, the government had no authority to issue this detainer.

Under IDOC rules, a person subject to a detainer is not eligible to participate in boot camp, so Mayorov was transferred to a state prison, where he remained for about ten months before ICE cancelled his detainer, and IDOC reinstated him to boot camp. Mayorov completed the program successfully and was released from custody on April 14, 2012.

Mayorov brings this action pursuant to the Federal Tort Claims Act (“FTCA”), 28 U.S.C. § 2671 et seq., and asserts claims of negligence and false imprisonment against the Government for its actions in issuing a detainer against him. The detainer, he alleges, resulted in his spending 325 days in prison that he otherwise would not have served. The Government asserts various affirmative defenses that, if applicable, defeat Mayorov's claims. The Government also argues that Mayorov's claims fail on the merits. Both parties have moved for summary judgment. For the reasons that follow, the court concludes that the Government's affirmative defenses do not bar Mayorov's claims, but that the Government is entitled to summary judgment on Mayorov's claim of false imprisonment. Disputes of fact preclude summary judgment on his negligence claim, however. The Government's motion for summary judgment [32] is therefore granted in part and denied in part. Mayorov's motion for summary judgment in his favor on liability [29] is denied.

BACKGROUND

Sergey Mayorov was born in 1990 in Belarus. (Pl.'s Local Rule 56.1 Stat. of Mat. Facts [31], hereinafter “Pl.'s 56.1,” ¶ 6.) He immigrated to the United States in 1999 as a child of his asylee mother, then known as Tatyana Mayorova, and became a lawful permanent resident on July 22, 2005. (See Def.'s Resp. [42] to Pl.'s 56.1, ¶¶ 7–8.) Mayorov's mother became a naturalized United States citizen on March 22, 2007. (Id. ¶ 10.) On her N–400 naturalization application, Mayorov's mother listed Mayorov as a dependent minor who lived with her. (Id. ¶ 9.) She also elected to change her name from Tatyana Mayorova to Tanya May in her application. (Id. ¶ 10.) Because Mayorov was under eighteen years old and in the legal and physical custody of his mother at the time she naturalized, he automatically became a United States citizen the same day pursuant to the Child Citizenship Act of 2000 (“CCA”), see 8 U.S.C. § 1431(a).¹ (Def.'s Resp. to Pl.'s 56.1 ¶¶ 11–12.) Mayorov did not apply for a naturalization certificate, but the CCA confers citizenship automatically—a certificate is not required. (Pl.'s Resp. [37] to Def.'s Local Rule 56.1 Stat. of Mat. Facts [34], hereinafter “Def.'s 56.1,” ¶ 9.)

On December 27, 2010, Mayorov pleaded guilty to residential burglary in the Circuit Court of Cook County and was sentenced to four years in prison. (Def.'s Resp. to Pl.'s 56.1 ¶ 19.) The sentencing judge recommended, however, that Mayorov participate in Illinois' “impact incarceration program,” a program that sends qualified individuals to boot camp for 120 days in lieu of prison confinement. (See id. ¶¶ 18–20; Plea Colloquy, Ex. 20 to Pl.'s 56.1 [31–21], 7–9; Sentencing Order, Ex. H to Def.'s 56.1.) Upon successful completion of boot camp, Mayorov would be released from IDOC custody without having to serve any prison time. (Pl.'s 56.1 ¶ 19.)

On December 28, 2010, prior to entering boot camp, Mayorov was processed into IDOC's Stateville Correctional Center. (Def.'s Resp. to Pl.'s 56.1 ¶ 21.) There, two ICE officers, Mayra Reynoso and Jennifer Wall, interviewed Mayorov as part of Stateville's inmate intake procedures. (Id. ¶ 22.) In their depositions, Reynoso and Wall testified that they knew that Mayorov was designated for boot camp; they also knew that inmates who had immigration detainers lodged against them were not eligible to participate in boot camp. (Id. ¶ 23; see Reynoso Dep., Ex. 7 to Pl.'s 56.1 [31–7], hereinafter “Reynoso Dep.,” 45:1–24; Wall Dep., Ex. 8 to Pl.'s 56.1 [31–8], hereinafter “Wall Dep.,” 46:5–15.) An immigration detainer is a document issued by DHS that, among other things, asks a state or local law enforcement agency to detain an individual for up to 48 hours (excluding weekends and federal holidays) after the agency's detention authority has ended so that DHS can determine whether the person is lawfully present in the country. (See Detainer for Sergey Mayorov, Ex. N to Def.'s 56.1.)

There is conflicting evidence about whether Mayorov told Reynoso and Wall that he was a United States citizen. In his deposition, Mayorov does not explicitly say that he told the agents this (and was not directly asked about the matter), but he does make such an assertion in his affidavit. (Mayorov Affidavit, Ex. 22 to Pl.'s 56.1 [31–22], ¶ 3 (“During my processing at Stateville [ ], I informed the ICE officers present that day, who[m] I have come to know were Officers Mayra Reynoso and Jennifer Wall, that I was a United States citizen.”). Neither agent remembers meeting Mayorov, but it is undisputed that they did in fact speak with him as part of the Stateville inmate intake procedures on December 28, 2010. (See Wall Dep. at 49:23–50:2; Reynoso Dep. at 28:12–16; see Def.'s Resp. to Pl.'s 56.1 ¶ 22.) Reynoso and Wall reviewed DHS's database entries for Mayorov and his mother, and Reynoso made a notation beside Mayorov's name on the inmate log explaining that she and Wall did not issue a detainer because Mayorov was a “Child of USC [U.S. citizen].” (Def.'s Resp. to Pl.'s 56.1 ¶¶ 26–28.) Reynoso does not recall what led her to make this notation. (Reynoso Dep. at 48:1–49:7.) Mayorov recalls that initially, either Reynoso or Wall was skeptical about his legal status:

...

She said “I don't know for sure, but I don't see any paperwork on you. It doesn't look like you're going to boot camp. Let me go ask my boss. Step into the next room over.” I stepped in there and the boss was a lady. She started asking me what was my mom's name. She found her in the system and then I don't know what she did. She said[,] “What year did your mom become a citizen or naturalized?” “It was '07. I was 16 back then[,]” and she said[,] “Oh, you were under 18 when your mom became naturalized?” I said “Yeah.” She said [,] “You're fine.” I just signed some papers and I just went to the next physical, dental.

...

Q. What did this second lady do to, quote, find [Mayorov's mother]?

A. She had a computer in front of her. I'm sitting on the end where I can't see it. She just started typing and then she asked me for my mom's name. I said[,] “Tanya May” and she said[,] “I found her.” I think she made a phone call to somebody. She made a phone call and then she was like—she said [,] “You're fine. You're fine. Your mom was naturalized in '07. How old were you in July or June of '07” somewhere around there. I was like [,] “I was 16.” She said[,] “You're fine. You can go to boot camp.”

...

Q. Did the first lady tell you why you couldn't go to boot camp?

A. Yeah, I'm not a citizen.

Q. At that point, did you know you were a citizen?

A. I was sure of it, yes.

Q. Why were you sure of it?

A. My mom became naturalized in '07. I'm under her care. I'm a minor at 16. So I figured I'm a citizen too.

(Mayorov Dep., Ex. 10 to Pl.'s 56.1 [31–10], 23:15–25; 24:1–2; 28:3–15.) Because no detainer issued at that time, Mayorov was cleared to participate in boot camp. (Inmate Log, Ex. 3 to Pl.'s 56.1 [31–3], Ex. A; Reynoso Dep. 48:12–49:7; Wall Dep. 48:15–49:6.) Neither Reynoso nor Wall noted the findings of their investigation in the ENFORCE database, or any other government database. ENFORCE is DHS's principal database of information related to persons encountered during immigration and criminal law enforcement investigations conducted by ICE and other DHS agencies. (See Def.'s Resp. to Pl.s 56.1 ¶ 29 (citing http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/privacy/privacy_pia_ice_eid.pdf) (last visited 2/15/2015).) At least as of April 10, 2014, ENFORCE listed Mayorov's “country of citizenship” and place of “primary citizenship” as Belarus. (Id. ¶ 31.) The Government does not explain why the agents chose not to update Mayorov's ENFORCE profile to reflect that he was a United States citizen once they decided not to issue a detainer, beyond asserting that they were under no obligation to do so. (Id. ¶ 29.)

The ICE Secure Communities Processing Center in Chicago (“Secure Communities”) conducts immigration investigations using fingerprints maintained by all state and local law enforcement agencies within a particular jurisdiction. (Id. ¶ 33). On December 30, 2010,...