Ramirez v. U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement

• Decision Date: 18 April 2018
• Docket Number: Civil Action No.: 18–508 (RC)
• Citation: 310 F.Supp.3d 7
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Columbia
• Parties: Wilmer Garcia RAMIREZ, et al., Plaintiffs. v. U.S. IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT, et al., Defendants.

310 F.Supp.3d 7

Wilmer Garcia RAMIREZ, et al., Plaintiffs.

v.U.S. IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT, et al., Defendants.

Civil Action No.: 18–508 (RC)

United States District Court, District of Columbia.

Signed April 18, 2018

Tia T. Trout Perez, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Washington, DC, Anne K. Reser, Stephen R. Patton, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Katherine E.M. Goettel, Chicago, IL, for Plaintiffs.

Cara Elizabeth Alsterberg, Christina Parascandola, Colin Abbott Kisor, Theo Nickerson, United States Department of Justice, Washington, DC, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

RUDOLPH CONTRERAS, United States District Judge

GRANTING PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiffs—three immigrant teenagers who entered the United States without inspection as unaccompanied minors—bring this putative class action, alleging that, upon reaching their respective eighteenth birthdays, Defendants transferred them to adult detention facilities without considering less restrictive placements in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1232(c)(2)(B). Plaintiffs also contend that Defendants routinely and systematically fail to abide by this statutory provision. Presently before the Court is a motion for preliminary injunctive relief, which seeks to compel Defendants to comply with the statutory mandate in placing Plaintiffs Wilmer Garcia Ramirez and Sulma Hernandez Alfaro. For the reasons explained below, the Court grants the motion.

II. BACKGROUND

A. Statutory and Regulatory Framework

Most immigration enforcement functions are carried out by the Department of Homeland Security ("DHS"), in which Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE") is housed. See 6 U.S.C. §§ 111, 251, 291. Congress established a different legal framework, however, for the care and custody of "unaccompanied alien children"—defined as children under age eighteen, who have no lawful immigration status in the United States and no parent or legal guardian in the United States available to provide care and physical custody. 6 U.S.C. § 279(g)(2). Except in exceptional circumstances, unaccompanied minors apprehended by immigration officials are transferred to the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services ("HHS"). 8 U.S.C. § 1232(b)(3). The Office of Refugee Resettlement ("ORR"), a division of HHS, is thereafter responsible for, among other things, "coordinating and implementing the care and placement" of such children. 6 U.S.C. § 279(a) – (b)(1)(A). Congress has established that these children "shall be promptly placed in the least restrictive setting that is in the best interest of the child" and that "[i]n making such placements, the Secretary [of HHS] may consider danger to self, danger to the community, and risk of flight." 8 U.S.C. § 1232(c)(2)(A).

HHS only has authority over the care and custody of immigrant children, however. See 6 U.S.C. § 279. And, of course, children do not stay children forever. Congress accounted for that fact of life, extending certain protections to newly adult immigrants who were formerly in the care and custody of HHS. Pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1232(c)(2)(B) :

If [an unaccompanied alien child in the custody of the Secretary of HHS] reaches 18 years of age and is transferred to the custody of the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary [of DHS] shall consider placement in the least restrictive setting available after taking into account the alien's danger to self, danger to the community, and risk of flight. Such aliens shall be eligible to participate in alternative to detention programs, utilizing a continuum of alternatives based on the alien's need for supervision, which may include placement of the alien with an individual or an organizational sponsor, or in a supervised group home.

Under this provision, DHS must "tak[e] into account" specified statutory factors and must "consider" placement in the least restrictive setting for those who aged out of HHS's jurisdiction. See id. But, unlike unaccompanied minors, these individuals are not promised placement in the least restrictive setting. Compare 8 U.S.C. § 1232(c)(2)(A), with 8 U.S.C. § 1232(c)(2)(B).

B. Factual Background and Procedural History

Plaintiffs in this case are three immigrant teenagers who were previously held in ORR custody as unaccompanied alien children. First Am. Compl. ¶¶ 1, 33, 46, 61, ECF No. 21. Upon turning eighteen, they were transferred to the custody of ICE and placed in adult detention facilities, purportedly without receiving statutorily mandated consideration of less restrictive placement options. See id. ¶¶ 1, 4, 13–15. They seek to represent a class of similarly situated individuals. See id. ¶ 6. Two of the three Plaintiffs—Wilmer Garcia Ramirez and Sulma Mirian Hernandez Alfaro—were the original plaintiffs in this case and are the focus of the motion for preliminary injunctive relief presently before the Court.¹

According to Plaintiffs' complaint, Wilmer Garcia Ramirez was born into poverty in Guatemala in 1999. See id. ¶¶ 20–21. At six years old, he began working in his family's fields, cutting underbrush with a machete. Id. ¶ 21. By eight, he was laboring for nine or more hours each day in other people's fields. Id. ¶ 22. From ages nine to sixteen, Mr. Garcia Ramirez worked at coffee plantations in Guatemala and Honduras for months at a time, where he endured difficult working and living conditions. See id. ¶¶ 23–30. In March 2017, when he was seventeen years old, Mr. Garcia Ramirez entered the United States without inspection in search of a better life. See id. ¶ 31. After crossing the border, he was apprehended by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers. See id. ¶ 33. Upon learning that he was an unaccompanied alien child, DHS officials transferred Mr. Garcia Ramirez to ORR custody. Id. ¶ 33.

While in ORR custody, Mr. Garcia Ramirez petitioned the Superior Court of Arizona to declare him a dependent of the State due to his parent's neglect in Guatemala. Id. ¶ 34. The court granted the petition, finding that it was not in Mr. Garcia Ramirez's best interest to be returned to Guatemala. Id. ¶ 34; Order Regarding Child's Eligibility for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status as to Mother, Ex. C, ECF No. 2–4. Mr. Garcia Ramirez then filed a petition for special immigration juvenile status ("SIJS"), seeking lawful permanent residency in the United States based on the neglect finding. First Am. Compl. ¶ 35; Ex. B, ECF No. 2–3. That petition remains pending. See First Am. Compl. ¶ 36.

The day before Mr. Garcia Ramirez turned eighteen years old, his attorney contacted an ICE deportation officer to request that he be released on his own recognizance, citing the facts that removal proceedings against him had been administratively closed, that he had plans to live with a family friend in Pennsylvania, and that he had pending a SIJS petition. See Email from Noriana C. Hermes (Sept. 22, 2017) at 7, Ex. D, ECF No. 20–4. The deportation officer denied the request, asserting only that ICE intended to reopen removal proceedings. See Email from Deportation Officer (Sept. 22, 2017) at 9, Ex. D, ECF No. 20–4. The next day, on Mr. Garcia Ramirez's eighteenth birthday, he was transferred from ORR custody to ICE custody. See First Am. Compl. ¶ 38.

At an ICE field office in Phoenix, Arizona, officials determined that Mr. Garcia Ramirez should be held without bond. See Decl. of Michael Leal ("Leal Decl.") ¶ 6, ECF No. 20–5. The next day, ICE transferred Mr. Garcia Ramirez to Eloy Detention Center ("EDC"), an adult detention facility in Eloy, Arizona. Id. At EDC, detention officers utilized the Risk Classification Assessment—a database tool that assists DHS officials in assessing whether an alien who is not subject to mandatory detention poses a danger to the community or poses a flight risk—to determine Mr. Garcia Ramirez's custody classification level. Id. ¶ 7. Based in part on the results of that assessment, officials classified him as a level 1 detainee—the lowest custody level at EDC—and housed him with other level 1 or low level 2 detainees, who have no criminal history or only a minor, non-violent criminal history. Id.

Mr. Garcia Ramirez twice initiated processes for requesting reconsideration of his placement in an adult detention facility. First, in November 2017, he requested a custody redetermination hearing before an immigration judge. See Mot. for Custody Redetermination Hearing, Ex. E at 9–12, ECF No. 20–5. A bond hearing was scheduled. See Notice of Custody Redetermination Hearing in Immigration Proceedings, Ex. E at 13, ECF No. 20–5. Mr. Garcia Ramirez later moved to vacate the hearing, however, explaining that a potential sponsor could no longer assist with his bond. See Unopposed Mot. to Vacate Bond Hearing, Ex. E at 15, ECF No. 20–5.

Second, through counsel, Mr. Garcia Ramirez sent a letter to ICE in January 2018, requesting release to the least restrictive setting available pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1232(c)(2)(B). Letter from Néstor Allende–Asparó to Justin Laub (Jan. 5, 2018), Ex. E at 20–23, ECF No. 20–5; Decl. of Néstor Allende–Asparó ("Allende–Asparó Decl.") ¶ 6, Ex. A, ECF No. 23–1. Counsel contends that he received no response to that letter. See Allende–Asparó Decl. ¶¶ 7–10. In the course of this litigation, however, ICE produced a letter, dated January 23, 2018 and addressed to Mr. Garcia Ramirez's counsel, which purports to respond to counsel's request. See Letter from Albert E. Carter to Néstor Allende–Asparó (Jan. 23, 2018), Ex. E at 24, ECF No. 20–5. Interpreting the request as a bid for "prosecutorial discretion in the form of release from custody," the ICE deputy field office director of the Phoenix Field Office denied the request on the basis that "the totality of circumstances d[id] not support a favorable exercise of discretionary authority in this case." Id. According to Mr. Garcia Ramirez's counsel, ICE did not discuss alternatives to detention with him at any time before or after Mr. Garcia Ramirez's eighteenth birthday. Allende–As...