Saget v. Trump

Citation345 F.Supp.3d 287
Decision Date14 December 2018
Docket Number18-CV-1599 (WFK) (ST)
Parties Patrick SAGET, Sabina Badio Florial, Naïscha Vilme, Gerald Michaud, Beatrice Beliard, Rachelle Guirand, Jean Claude Mompoint, Yolnick Jeune, Guerline Francois, Leoma Pierre, Haïti Liberté, and Family Action Network Movement, Inc., Plaintiffs, v. Donald TRUMP, President of the United States of America, United States of America, Department of Homeland Security, Kirstjen Nielsen, Secretary of Homeland Security, and Elaine C. Duke, Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, Defendants.
CourtUnited States District Courts. 2nd Circuit. United States District Court (Eastern District of New York)

Sejal Zota, Pro Hac Vice, National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, Boston, MA, Christopher J. Ferro, Geoffrey Pipoly, Pro Hac Vice, Mayer Brown LLP, Chicago, IL, Christopher James Houpt, Mayer Brown LLP, New York, NY, Kevin A. Gregg, Pro Hac Vice, Ira J. Kurzban, Kurzban Kurzban Weinger Tetzeli & Pratt, P.A., Miami, FL, for Plaintiffs.

Joseph Anthony Marutollo, U.S. Attorney's Office, Brooklyn, NY, for Defendants.

DECISION & ORDER

WILLIAM F. KUNTZ, II, United States District Judge:

Plaintiffs bring this action challenging then-Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine C. Duke's November 20, 2017 determination to terminate Haiti's Temporary Protected Status designation, based on her assessment that Haiti had sufficiently recovered from a 2010 earthquake and there were no longer "extraordinary and temporary conditions" preventing Haitian nationals residing in the United States from safely returning to Haiti. Defendants President Donald Trump, Department of Homeland Security ("DHS"), DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, and DHS Acting Deputy Secretary Claire M. Grady filed a motion to dismiss pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6). Defendants also filed a motion to stay this action. For the reasons stated below, Defendants' motion to dismiss and motion to stay are both DENIED.

BACKGROUND

On March 15, 2018, Patrick Saget, Family Action Network Movement, Inc., Yolnick Jeune, Sabina Badio Florial, Jean Claude Mompoint, Gerald Michaud, Leoma Pierre, Naischa Vilme, Guerline Francois, Beatrice Beliard, Haiti Liberté, and Rachelle Guirand (collectively, "Plaintiffs") filed this action against President Donald Trump, the United States of America, DHS, Kirstjen Nielsen in her capacity as the Secretary of DHS, and Elaine C. Duke in her capacity as Deputy Secretary of DHS (who was later replaced by Claire M. Grady) (collectively, "Defendants") seeking declaratory and injunctive relief. Compl., ECF No. 1. On May 31, 2018, Plaintiffs filed an Amended Complaint. Am. Compl., ECF No. 21.

Plaintiffs challenge then-Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine C. Duke's termination of Temporary Protected Status ("TPS") for Haiti, effective July 22, 2019. Plaintiffs claim, inter alia , the decision to terminate TPS for Haiti violated the requirements of the TPS statute, 8 U.S.C. § 1254a, implemented a new standard for terminating TPS that is arbitrary and unlawful under the Administrative Procedures Act ("APA"), violated the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution, and was ultra vires of the Immigration and Nationality Act ("INA").

The Court assumes the reader's familiarity with the history of TPS and Haiti's TPS designation, and the allegations in Plaintiffs' Amended Complaint. As such, this opinion only engages in a brief recitation of the background of this litigation and references alleged facts as needed for analysis.

As pleaded in the Amended Complaint, Haiti was initially designated for TPS in January 2010, following a devastating earthquake. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 2-3. On May 19, 2011, following a deadly cholera

outbreak, DHS extended and re-designated TPS for Haiti. Id. ¶ 50. TPS was extended for Haitian nationals for 18-month intervals again in October 2012, March 2014, and August 2015. Id. ¶ 54. On May 24, 2017, then-DHS Secretary Join Kelly once again extended TPS for Haiti for six months, but nevertheless warned Haitian nationals they should begin to prepare to return to Haiti. Id. ¶¶ 85, 89. In the designation notice published in the Federal Register, Secretary Kelly noted the ongoing cholera epidemic, the extensive damage wrought by Hurricane Matthew's landfall in 2016, and the 55,000 people in internally displaced person camps. Id. ¶¶ 85-88; 82 Fed. Reg. 23830.

On November 20, 2017, DHS terminated Haiti's TPS, stating the decision "was made after a review of the conditions upon which the country's original designation were based," and asserting the "extraordinary but temporary conditions caused by the 2010 earthquake no longer exist. Thus, under the applicable statute, the current TPS designation must be terminated." Id. ¶ 106 (citing DHS Press Release, Acting Secretary Elaine Duke Announcement on Temporary Protected Status (Nov. 20, 2017) ). On January 18, 2018, DHS published notice of its termination of Haiti's TPS designation in the Federal Register citing, inter alia , Haiti's progress in recovering from the earthquake, the October 2017 withdrawal of the U.N. peacekeeping mission, the successful completion of a presidential election, continuing economic recovery, and the lowest levels of cholera

since an outbreak began. Id. ¶¶ 109-112; 83 Fed. Reg. 2648.

On October 9, 2018, Defendants filed their fully briefed motion to dismiss this action, and Plaintiffs filed their opposition thereto. Def. Mot., ECF No. 58; Def. Mem., ECF No. 59; Pl. Opp'n, ECF No. 62; Def. Reply, ECF No. 63. On October 30, 2018, Defendants filed a motion to stay this action pending final appellate review of the preliminary injunction issued in a parallel matter in the Northern District of California, Ramos v. Nielsen , 18-CV-1554. Mot. to Stay, ECF No. 65. Plaintiffs filed their opposition on November 7, 2018, and Defendants filed their reply on November 8, 2018. Pl. Stay Opp'n, ECF No. 69; Def. Stay Reply, ECF No. 70. The Court held oral argument on the motions on November 13, 2018. Nov. 13, 2018 Tr. ("Tr."), ECF No. 72. At the oral argument, the Court issued an oral ruling from the bench denying both Defendants' motion to dismiss and motion to stay. The Court now provides a written decision and order setting forth the reasons for its ruling.

LEGAL STANDARDS

An action is properly dismissed under Federal Rule Civil Procedure ("FRCP") 12(b)(1) for lack of subject matter jurisdiction "when the district court lacks the statutory or constitutional power to adjudicate" the case. Doyle v. Midland Credit Mgmt., Inc. , 722 F.3d 78, 80 (2d Cir. 2013) (citation omitted). Plaintiffs bear the burden of showing that subject matter jurisdiction exists. MLC Fishing, Inc. v. Velez , 667 F.3d 140, 141 (2d Cir. 2011). In reviewing a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction under FRCP 12(b)(1), the Court must accept all material factual allegations in the complaint as true. See Atl. Mut. Ins. Co. v. Balfour Maclaine Int'l Ltd. , 968 F.2d 196, 198 (2d Cir. 1992). "In deciding a Rule 12(b)(1) motion, the court may also rely on evidence outside the complaint." Cortlandt St. Recovery Corp. v. Hellas Telecomm., S.a.r.l , 790 F.3d 411, 417 (2d Cir. 2015) (citation omitted).

When ruling on a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim for which relief can be granted under FRCP 12(b)(6), courts should construe the complaint "liberally, accepting all factual allegations ... as true, and drawing all reasonable inferences in the plaintiff's favor." Chambers v. Time Warner, Inc. , 282 F.3d 147, 152 (2d Cir. 2002). So long as a claim is "plausible on its face," dismissal is inappropriate. Sharkey v. Quarantillo , 541 F.3d 75, 92 (2d Cir. 2008) (citing Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly , 550 U.S. 544, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) ). Counts brought under the APA are subject to the same standards. Id. In deciding a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, the court may consider, in addition to the factual allegations of the complaint, documents attached to the complaint as exhibits or incorporated in it by reference, matters of which the court may take judicial notice, and documents in the plaintiff's possession or of which the plaintiff had knowledge and relied on in bringing suit. Roth v. CitiMortgage Inc. , 756 F.3d 178, 180 (2d Cir. 2014) (citation omitted). "Agency determinations and administrative findings are public records of which a court may properly take judicial notice."

Lia v. Saporito , 909 F.Supp.2d 149, 161 (E.D.N.Y. 2012) (Feuerstein, J.) (citations omitted); Bates v. Donley , 935 F.Supp.2d 14, 17 (D.D.C. 2013) ("[W]hen faced with a motion to dismiss in the APA context, a court may consider the administrative record and public documents without converting the motion into a motion for summary judgment." (citation omitted) ).

ANALYSIS
I. The Court Has Subject Matter Jurisdiction Over this Action.

Defendants move to dismiss this action as a whole on the ground that this Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1254a(b)(5)(A). Def. Mem. at 13-16. Additionally, Defendants contend this Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over Plaintiffs' claims against the President. Id. at 16-18.

a. Plaintiffs' Action Generally

The TPS statute, 8 U.S.C. § 1254a(b)(5)(A), provides "[t]here is no judicial review of any determination of the [Secretary] with respect to the designation, or termination or extension of a designation, of a foreign state under this subsection." (emphasis added). However, there is a strong presumption that administrative actions are reviewable in federal court. Bowen v. Mich. Acad. of Family Physicians , 476 U.S. 667, 670, 106 S.Ct. 2133, 90 L.Ed.2d 623 (1986) ; Sharkey , 541 F.3d at 84 (citations omitted). The presumption in favor of judicial review may be overcome "only upon a showing of ‘clear and convincing evidence’ of a contrary legislative intent." Sharkey , 541 F.3d at 84 (citations omitted).

Defendants' contend the judicial review preclusion provision found in the TPS statute forecloses all...

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    • United States
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    ...does not bar review 375 F.Supp.3d 330of Secretary Duke's decisionmaking process for terminating Haiti's TPS. See Saget v. Trump , 345 F.Supp.3d 287 (E.D.N.Y. 2018) (Kuntz, J.). Nevertheless, Defendants continue to assert this Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction. First, Defendants argue ......
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