Mendez Ramirez v. Decker
| Docket Number | 1:19-cv-11012-GHW |
| Decision Date | 03 April 2020 |
| Citation | 612 F.Supp.3d 200 |
| Parties | Juan Cruz MENDEZ RAMIREZ, Petitioner, v. Thomas DECKER, in his official capacity as Field Office Director of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE") New York City Field Office, Scott Mechkowski, in his official capacity as Assistant Field Office Director for the ICE New York City Field Office, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Chad Wolf, in his official capacity as Acting Secretary of DHS, and William Pelham Barr, in his official capacity as the Attorney General of the United States, Respondents. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York |
Bridget Phillips Kessler, Brooklyn Defender Services, Brooklyn, NY, Jonathan Samuel Kolodner, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, Tapan Rajen Oza, New York, NY, for Petitioner.
Rebecca Ruth Friedman, DOJ-USAO, New York, NY, for Respondents.
When Petitioner Juan Cruz Mendez Ramirez first presented himself to United States' immigration authorities at the border in Roma, Texas, he was seventeen years old. He was also alone. And he did not have authorization to enter this country legally. Therefore, Mr. Mendez Ramirez was designated as an unaccompanied alien child ("UAC") and released to live with his mother, who resides in New York. Mr. Mendez Ramirez was subsequently ordered removed by an immigration judge. However, he was not immediately apprehended to commence his removal proceedings. Rather, Mr. Mendez Ramirez continued to live with his mother in New York.
After he turned eighteen, Mr. Mendez Ramirez was charged with two misdemeanors in New York state court. Although those charges were dropped, he was then arrested by federal immigration authorities and detained pending his deportation. While detained, Mr. Mendez Ramirez filed motions to stay his deportation and reopen his immigration proceedings, both of which were granted. Mr. Mendez Ramirez also filed an application for asylum, which was granted by an immigration judge; however, the government timely appealed that determination.
Mr. Mendez Ramirez filed this petition for habeas corpus arguing that his statutory and constitutional rights have been violated by his prolonged detention. Because Mr. Mendez Ramirez no longer met the statutory definition of a UAC when he was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE"), he is not entitled to the legal protections afforded to UACs. And because Congress has authorized—and indeed directed—that immigrants without legal authorization be detained during the pendency of their removal proceedings, Mr. Mendez Ramirez's detention does not violate his due process rights. Accordingly, Mr. Mendez Ramirez's habeas corpus petition is DENIED.
"Congress has established the requirements for admission of aliens that arrive at the border without authorization to enter." Lopez v. Sessions , No. 18 CIV. 4189 (RWS), 2018 WL 2932726, at *4 (S.D.N.Y. June 12, 2018) (citing 8 U.S.C. § 1225 (" Section 1225")). Pursuant to Section 1225(a), "aliens who arrive at the nation's borders" without authorization to enter this country "are deemed ‘applicants for admission,’ [or ‘arriving aliens’] and must be inspected by an immigration official before being granted admission." Id. (citing 8 U.S.C. § 1225(a)(1), (3) ). "Under Section 1225(b), ‘if the examining immigration officer determines that an alien seeking admission is not clearly and beyond a doubt entitled to be admitted, the alien shall be detained for a proceeding under section 1229(a) of this title [i.e., a removal proceeding].’ " Id. (quoting 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A) ) (brackets in original). Thus, detention is mandatory for arriving aliens subject to Section 1225(b).
If an arriving alien is subject to mandatory detention under Section 1225(b), "an immigration judge ‘may not’ conduct a bond hearing to determine whether an arriving alien should be released into the United States during removal proceedings." Id. (quoting 8 C.F.R. § 1003.19(h)(2)(i)(B) ) ("Section 1003"). However, arriving aliens who are detained pursuant to Section 1225(b)(2)(A) may be released from custody pursuant to DHS's discretionary parole authority. See 8 U.S.C. § 1182(d)(5)(A) (" Section 1182").
Under Section 1182(d)(5)(A), DHS "may ... in [its] discretion parole into the United States temporarily under such conditions as [it] may prescribe only on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit any alien applying for admission to the United States[.]" Id. However, "such parole of such alien shall not be regarded as an admission of the alien and when the purposes of such parole shall ... have been served the alien shall forthwith return or be returned to the custody from which he was paroled[.]" Id. "[T]hereafter[,]" a formerly paroled alien's "case shall continue to be dealt with in the same manner as that of any other applicant for admission to the United States." Id. Regulations interpreting this statutory provision state that "[m]inors [in DHS custody] may be released to a parent, legal guardian, or adult relative (brother, sister, aunt, uncle, or grandparent) not in detention." 8 C.F.R. § 212.5(b)(3)(i).1 However, parole "would generally be justified only on a case-by-case basis for ‘urgent humanitarian reasons[’] or ‘significant public benefit’ provided the alien poses neither a security risk nor a threat of absconding[.]" Id. § 212.5(b) (quoting 8 U.S.C. § 1182(d)(5)(A) ). The decision about whether to grant parole "is entirely [within] the agency's discretion and may be revoked at its discretion." Lopez , 2018 WL 2932726, at *4 (citing 8 U.S.C. § 1182(d)(5)(A) ).
"Unaccompanied alien children" are a subset of arriving aliens. In 2002, Congress enacted the Homeland Security Act ("HSA"), which defines a UAC as a person who: "(A) has no lawful immigration status in the United States; (B) has not attained 18 years of age; and (C) with respect to whom—(i) there is no parent or legal guardian in the United States; or (ii) no parent or legal guardian in the United States is available to provide care and physical custody." 6 U.S.C. § 279(g)(2) (" Section 279"). The HSA transferred the responsibility for care of "unaccompanied alien children who are in Federal custody by reason of their immigration status" to the Office of Refugee Resettlement ("ORR") within the Department of Health and Human Services ("HHS"). Id. § 279(a), (b)(1)(A). In 2008, Congress enacted the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act ("TVPRA"), which requires that "the care and custody of all unaccompanied alien children, including responsibility for their detention, where appropriate, shall be the responsibility of the Secretary of Health and Human Services." 8 U.S.C. § 1232(b)(1) (" Section 1232"). The TVPRA transferred responsibility for care and custody of UACs who were in federal custody by virtue of their immigration status to ORR; it did not alter their immigration status.
Section 1232(c)(2) requires ORR to make certain determinations regarding UACs in its custody. Under Section 1232(c)(2)(A), Id. § 1232(c)(2)(A). The "least restrictive setting" for the placement of a UAC can include releasing the UAC to live with a sponsor pursuant to a Sponsor Care Agreement, although ORR "may not" place a UAC "with a person or entity" until it has made "a determination that the proposed custodian is capable of providing for the child's physical and mental well-being." Id. § 1232(c)(3)(A).
Id. § 1232(c)(2)(B).
As the plain text of these provisions makes clear, ORR does not have jurisdiction over non-UACs. See, e.g., D.B. v. Cardall , 826 F.3d 721, 748 (4th Cir. 2016) (Floyd, J., dissenting) (). As noted above, the HSA and TVPRA transfer jurisdiction over UACs—a subset of arriving aliens who meet the statutory definition of UAC outlined in Section 279(g)(2) —to ORR. DHS retains jurisdiction over all other arriving aliens.
There is a specific regulatory provision that applies to aliens who were formerly designated as UACs. This provision states:
Aliens who are no longer UACs. When an alien previously determined to have been a UAC has reached the age of 18, when a parent or legal guardian in the United States is available to provide care and physical custody for such an alien, or when such alien has obtained lawful immigration status, the alien is no longer a UAC. An alien who is no longer a UAC is not eligible to receive legal protections limited to UACs under the relevant sections of the Act.
Mr. Mendez Ramirez is a native and citizen of Guatemala born on December 14, 2000. Declaration of Naquan...
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