Douglas v. United States
| Citation | 796 F.Supp.2d 1354 |
| Decision Date | 22 June 2011 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 8:09–cv–2145–T–33TBM. |
| Parties | Rohan D. DOUGLAS, Plaintiff, v. UNITED STATES of America, Defendant. |
| Court | United States District Courts. 11th Circuit. United States District Court of Middle District of Florida |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Matthew L. Wilson, Marshall Thomas Burnett, Tampa, FL, for Plaintiff.
J. Marcus Meeks, United States Department of Justice, Paul E. Werner, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, for Defendant.
This cause comes before the Court pursuant to Plaintiff Douglas's Motion for Summary Judgment as to Liability Only on Counts I and II (Doc. # 35), Defendant United States' Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. # 45), and the respective responses in opposition thereto (Docs. # 46, 47). In addition, the United States, with leave of Court, filed a Reply in support of its Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. # 51).
In 1964, Douglas was born in St. Kitts, British Virgin Islands, to non-citizen parents. In 1977, Douglas was admitted to the United States as a lawful permanent resident. On October 16, 1981, Douglas's mother, Larisene Weiner, became a naturalized U.S. citizen. Douglas was seventeen years old at the time his mother became a United States citizen, was a child born out of wedlock, and was a lawful permanent resident of the United States. As such, Douglas gained “derivative citizenship” by way of his mother's naturalization and became a United States citizen by operation of law also on October 16, 1981.1
In 1986, Douglas was convicted in Virginia of grand larceny. In 1987, Douglas was convicted in South Carolina of larceny of a vehicle. In 1988, the United States initiated removal proceedings against Douglas as an alien who had committed two crimes involving moral turpitude.2 During those removal proceedings, Douglas erroneously conceded that he was an alien and that he was removable as charged, but requested a § 212(c) waiver 3 from the judge to remain in the United States, which was granted. A transcript of those proceedings was placed into Douglas's Alien file (“A-file”) by the end of 1990.
In 1989, Douglas was found guilty in Virginia of misdemeanor sexual abuse. In 1996, Douglas was found guilty in Florida of grand theft. On September 27, 2005, Douglas was arrested in Florida on a felony charge of driving with a suspended license.
On September 28, 2005, Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) Special Agent John O'Malley checked the government's Central Index System (“CIS”) 4, which reported that Douglas was an alien. That day, O'Malley ordered Douglas's A-file, which he received on October 6, 2005. During October and November 2005, O'Malley collected court records for Douglas's 1996 conviction of the grand theft charge and available records for Douglas's 1989 sexual abuse charge.
On November 30, 2005, O'Malley filled out a Record of Deportable/Inadmissible Alien, Form I–213, stating that Douglas was a removable alien under Section 237(a)(2)(A)(ii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”) because he had committed two crimes involving moral turpitude that did not arise out of a single scheme of criminal conduct. The two crimes listed were Douglas's 1987 conviction for larceny of a vehicle and his 1996 conviction for grand theft. On the Form I–213, O'Malley also mentioned Douglas's 1989 sexual abuse charge, but did not include that charge as one of the two crimes involving moral turpitude.
On that same date, ICE issued a warrant to arrest Douglas and a Notice to Appear 5 alleging he was an alien and charging him with removability for committing two crimes involving moral turpitude. On December 1, 2005, ICE placed an immigration hold on Douglas, who at the time was being held in Hillsborough County Jail on local charges. On that same date, Douglas was transferred to Pinellas County Jail in relation to his felony driving with a suspended license charge.
On December 2, 2005, Douglas would have been able to post bond for the underlying charge, but elected not to do so because of the immigration detainer placed on him by ICE. Douglas remained in Pinellas County Jail until January 18, 2006, when he was released to ICE custody. ICE agents served the warrant to arrest and the Notice to Appear on Douglas on January 18, 2006. Also on January 18, 2006, Immigration Enforcement Agent Adolphus Teel transported Douglas from Pinellas County Jail to the Tampa ICE office. Douglas alleges that while en route, he told Agent Teel that he was a United States citizen and that he should not be in deportation proceedings. Douglas further alleges that Agent Teel told him that other officers had looked into the matter already and determined that he was not a citizen. Agent Teel told Douglas to speak to a supervisor at Bradenton Detention Facility, where he was due to be transported.
On or about January 19, 2006, after arriving at Bradenton Detention Facility, Douglas began writing a letter that he submitted on January 24, 2006, to his assigned deportation officer, Officer Carlos Tolentino. In the letter, which he attached to an alien communication form, Douglas claimed in paragraph 1 to have been “automatically naturalized” when his mother became a naturalized citizen. See Doc. # 35, Exh. 7(b). Officer Tolentino responded to the alien communication form on January 25, 2006. In his response, he wrote “Talk to the judge.” Id.
The Department of Homeland Security, through ICE and Enforcement and Removal Operations, held Douglas in various detention facilities while awaiting deportation between January 18, 2006, and September 25, 2006, because the government alleged that Douglas was an alien who had committed two crimes involving moral turpitude. Between March and August, 2006, Douglas had eleven hearings before three different immigration judges, but Douglas never claimed he was a citizen. Instead, he conceded he was an alien and that he was removable as charged.
In September 2006, Douglas's wife contacted Larisene Weiner, Douglas's mother. Ms. Weiner forwarded a copy of her naturalization certificate to Douglas's wife.
On September 19, 2006, the government raised Douglas's citizenship claim in removal proceedings before an immigration judge. At the hearing, Douglas stated that he had filled out an N–600 form, which is an application for a certificate of citizenship. The judge and the Department of Homeland Security trial attorney told Douglas that he had to file his N–600 with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”).
Douglas remained incarcerated without bond while the government attempted to locate and obtain Ms. Weiner's A-file from St. Croix. On September 22, 2006, Douglas returned to court, at which point the judge granted him bond. Douglas handed a completed N–600 form to the immigration court on September 22, 2006. The form was marked as received by the court, and counsel for the government was present when the N–600 form was handed over.
Douglas alleges that upon his release from custody on September 25, 2006, he promptly went to the post office and mailed the N–600 form dated September 18, 2006, to the USCIS.
Between September 22, 2006, and February 19, 2008, no one within the Department of Homeland Security, including, but not limited to, special agents, officers, analysts or attorneys, investigated whether Douglas qualified as a derivative U.S. citizen through Ms. Weiner's naturalization in 1981. During that time, Douglas was aware that the removal proceedings continued against him.
On February 19, 2008, Douglas was arrested by local authorities for being a felon in possession of a firearm and for driving with a license suspended or revoked. At that time, the government's CIS reported that Douglas was not a citizen.6 Also on February 19, 2008, ICE issued an immigration detainer on Douglas.
On February 20, 2008, ICE Deportation Officer Burt Wehying filled out a Record of Deportable/Inadmissible Alien, Form I–213, for Douglas. In the I–213, Wehying noted Douglas's most recent arrest and Douglas's earlier crimes. Wehying also noted that removal proceedings against Douglas continued. On this same date, ICE issued a warrant to arrest Douglas and took him into custody.
When he was brought into the Tampa ICE office for processing on February 20, 2008, Douglas showed Officer Wehying his mother's naturalization certificate, his N–600 application, and his bond paperwork and stated that he was a United States citizen. ICE officials made copies of these documents. Officer Wehying, however, did not obtain Douglas's A-file or Douglas's mother's A-file. Officer Wehying did not call Department of Homeland Security offices in Miami to speak with someone who may have been able to locate information within the A-files of Douglas or his mother. Douglas was in ICE custody in Tampa for less than twelve hours. After Douglas left the Tampa office, Officer Wehying did not further investigate whether Douglas was a United States citizen.
That same day, on or about February 20, 2008, Douglas was transported from Tampa to Broward Transitional Center and then to Krome Service Processing Center in Miami where he told deportation officers in both locations that he was a citizen and showed them his mother's naturalization certificate, his N–600 application, and his bond paperwork.
The Department of Homeland Security, through ICE and Enforcement and Removal Operations, held Douglas in various detention facilities while awaiting deportation between February 20, 2008, and May 1, 2008, because the government alleged that Douglas was an alien who had committed two crimes involving moral turpitude. During this second detention, Douglas did not appear before an immigration judge.
On March 13, 2008, Douglas filled out another N–600 application for a certificate of citizenship and mailed it to USCIS. USCIS received that application on March 25, 2008, and indicated that it would take one year to process his application.
In April 2008, Officer Eduardo Roman...
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