INTERN. MOLDERS'& ALLIED WKRS'L. 164 v. Nelson
| Citation | 674 F. Supp. 294 |
| Decision Date | 24 November 1987 |
| Docket Number | No. C-82-1986-RPA.,C-82-1986-RPA. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of California |
| Parties | INTERNATIONAL MOLDERS' AND ALLIED WORKERS' LOCAL UNION NO. 164, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Alan NELSON, Commissioner of the INS, et al., Defendants. |
Susan E. Brown, Francisco Garcia-Rodriquez, Denise Hulett, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, San Francisco, Cal., Antonia Hernandez, E. Richard Larson, Linda Wong, John Nockleby, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Los Angeles, Cal., David Grabill, California Rural Legal Assistance, Santa Rosa, Cal., Alan L. Schlosser, Margaret C. Crosby, Edward M. Chen, American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Northern
California, Inc., Steven A. Brick, Barbara Moses, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, John M. True, Employment Law Center, San Francisco, Cal., for plaintiffs.
Joseph P. Russoneillo, U.S. Atty., Judith A. Whetstine, Chief, Civ. Div., San Francisco, Cal., David J. Kline, Asst. Director, Ellen Sue Shapiro, Attorney Office of Immigration Div., Civ. Div., Dept. of Justice, Washington, D.C., for defendants.
ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND DENYING DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT
The question before the Court is the validity and effect of a warrant issued by an United States Magistrate permitting defendant the Immigration and Naturalization Service (the "INS" or the "Government") to raid the workplace of plaintiff Petaluma Poultry Company ("PPC"). The Government argues that the warrant was valid, that it was properly supported by a specific and reliable affidavit, and that the actions taken pursuant to the warrant were justified. Plaintiffs counter by arguing that the warrant was inadequately supported, that the warrant itself was invalid, and that the subsequent seizure of illegal aliens by use of the warrant was illegal.
After full briefing and oral argument, the Court deemed submitted the parties' cross-motions for summary judgment. The Court has now reviewed all papers submitted in connection with the motions and reviewed the relevant authorities. Good cause appearing therefor, the Court finds and orders as follows.
An overview of the facts is provided here. More complete details are provided in the earlier opinion of this Court, 643 F.Supp. 884 (1986), remanded with modifications, 799 F.2d 547 (9th Cir.1986).
This suit arises from a series of workplace raids conducted by the INS pursuant to their authority under the immigration laws. Plaintiffs challenge these raids as violative of the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the Constitution. In the context of these motions, plaintiffs assert that the INS employed "warrants of inspection" as licenses generally to interrogate and seize employees. Plaintiffs allege that in a typical raid, the INS would block the exits from the work area and systematically question primarily hispanic workers about their immigration status. Although the warrant might refer to no more than four specific individuals, the INS would use the "general warrant" to interrogate and to seize employees or any other suspects en masse resulting in the arrest or detention of as many as seventy persons in a single workplace raid.
Although in their earlier motion for a preliminary injunction plaintiffs referred to eight separate incidents of raids, the Sixth Amended Complaint (the "Complaint") presently on file in this case refers to but a single occasion of a raid conducted pursuant to a general warrant. That incident was the raid on PPC. Thus, for purposes of ruling on the question of the validity of the INS' "general warrants" the only controversy presently before the Court is the raid on PPC.
The warrant used to gain entry to PPC was issued on April 23, 1982, by U.S. Magistrate Richard S. Goldsmith. Magistrate Goldsmith stated that there was "reasonable cause to believe" that five named individuals "and others" were illegally in the United States and could be found at PPC during normal working hours. The warrant authorized the INS:
To search within a period of ten (10) days the place named above for the persons specified, and other suspected of being illegal aliens, serving this warrant and making the search in the daytime (8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.), and if such persons are found there to seize them, leaving a copy of this warrant and receipt for the persons taken, and prepare a written inventory of the person seized and promptly return this warrant and the written inventory before Magistrate Richard S. Goldsmith, as required by law.
The sole basis for the issuance of the warrant was an affidavit sworn to by Joseph Brandon of the INS. Detailed examination of the affidavit is provided below. At this point, it is sufficient to note that the affidavit contained seven items in support of the request for a warrant. The gist of the affidavit was that illegal aliens had been apprehended at the PPC factory in 1978 and that there was evidence suggesting that illegal aliens were again on the premises. Solely on the basis of this affidavit, the magistrate issued the warrant.
The first question is whether the warrant was valid as a seizure warrant with respect to the five named individuals.1 The standard to test validity is whether the warrant and supporting affidavit contain sufficient specificity and reliability to prevent the exercise of unbridled discretion by law enforcement officers. Delaware v. Prouse, 440 U.S. 648, 653-55, 99 S.Ct. 1391, 1395-97; 59 L.Ed.2d 660 (1979); see also U.S. v. Spilotro, 800 F.2d 959, 963 (9th Cir.1986) (). The purpose of this requirement is "to prevent the agents from having uncontrolled discretion to rummage everywhere in search of seizable persons once lawfully within the premises." Int'l Molders, 799 F.2d at 552-53, quoting U.S. v. Condo, 782 F.2d 1502, 1505 (9th Cir.1986).2
The evidence presented in a warrant application must be particularized enough to allow a "neutral and detached" magistrate or court, Steagald v. U.S., 451 U.S. 204, 212, 101 S.Ct. 1642, 1647-48, 68 L.Ed.2d 38 (1981), to make an independent determination that probable cause exists for the seizure of a particular person. Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 239, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 2332-33, 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983) (); Molders, 799 F.2d at 552-53; see also U.S. v. Rubio, 727 F.2d 786, 795 (9th Cir.1984) ().
As defendants correctly have pointed out, whether a warrant is adequate and based on probable cause are questions to be decided on the face of the warrant and its supporting affidavit. U.S. v. Anderson, 453 F.2d 174, 175 (9th Cir.1971), cited with approval in U.S. v. Grandstaff, 813 F.2d 1353-55 (9th Cir.1987). The warrant cannot be supported by outside or after-the-fact information. U.S. v. Rubio, 727 F.2d 786, 795 (9th Cir.1984). The facts upon which the magistrate predicates his probable cause determination "must appear within the four corners of the warrant affidavit." Id.; Grandstaff, 813 F.2d at 1355.
The affidavit in this case contained sufficient particularized and reliable information to allow the magistrate to find probable cause for the issuance of the warrant with respect to the five named individuals. The Brandon affidavit stated that an October 1978 raid on PPC uncovered seventeen (17) illegal aliens employed by the company. Fifteen of the seventeen failed to appear for INS interviews, allegedly because of warnings of potential deportation given to the employees by PPC. The affidavit further states that on November 5, 1981, an anonymous informant reported that PPC was employing approximately thirty illegal aliens, many of whom had been arrested and deported previously. Among those thirty, was Enrique Farias, who the informant stated had been deported to Mexico once before. An examination of INS' records showed that Mr. Farias had indeed been deported before — on October 24, 1978, a date coinciding with the prior raid on PPC. Brandon's affidavit further related that the Petaluma Police Department had advised the INS that many illegal aliens were working at PPC.
When the INS attempted to follow up on these leads, PPC was not forthcoming with information. After PPC denied employment of illegal aliens, the INS subpoenaed PPC's personnel files. A review of the files revealed that five PPC employees had records of illegal status and prior apprehensions. Those five individuals — David Valencia-Mendoza, Jose Valencia-Mendoza, Audomaro Farias-Vargas, Enrique Farias-Vargas, and Baudelio Carrillo-Navarro—were then named specifically in the warrant as targets of seizure.
Thus, the affidavit, including the INS' records with respect to Mr. Farias and his four cohorts, contained specific and reliable information from which a neutral magistrate could find probable cause for the seizure of the five named employees suspected of being illegally present in the U.S.. Based upon the information provided, the magistrate was able independently to surmise that probable cause existed for the search of the named individuals. See Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. at 239, 103 S.Ct. at 2332-33. Moreover, the warrant issued by the magistrate contained sufficient particularity (it actually named the five individuals) to prevent the INS from exercising unbridled discretion in seeking the suspects. See Int'l Molders, 799 F.2d at 552. In light of these...
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Pearl Meadows Mushroom Farm, Inc. v. Nelson
...its business establishment was constitutionally infirm, both as an inspection warrant and as a seizure warrant. International Molders v. Nelson, 674 F.Supp. 294 (N.D.Cal. 1987). Subsequently, plaintiffs amended their complaint to allege a claim that as a pattern and practice, the INS employ......