Akran v. United States

997 F. Supp. 2d 197, 2014 WL 455533
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedFebruary 4, 2014
DocketNo. 12-CV-0929 (ENV)(JMA)
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 997 F. Supp. 2d 197 (Akran v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Akran v. United States, 997 F. Supp. 2d 197, 2014 WL 455533 (E.D.N.Y. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM & ORDER

VITALIANO, District Judge.

Plaintiff Godson Akran, a United States citizen, filed this action asserting a false imprisonment claim against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act (“FTCA”), 28 U.S.C. §§ 1346(b), 2671 et seq. Akran alleges that, after he was released from a term of imprisonment resulting from felony fraud convictions, immigration officials wrongfully detained him in connection with removal proceedings. The detention lasted approximately one year, from April of 2007 through April of 2008, despite Akraris status as an American citizen. The United States moved to dismiss plaintiffs claim under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) on the ground that the government’s arrest and subsequent detention was “legally privileged.” Akran opposes that motion and also seeks to amend his complaint to include a claim for abuse of process. For the reasons discussed below, the government’s motion to dismiss is granted and plaintiffs motion to amend is denied.

Background

I. Significant History

Akran was born to Shade Odubiyi and Clifford Akran in Nigeria on April 17, 1980. (Compl. at ¶ 7-8.) Akraris parents were not married, and his father never “legitimated” him under the laws of Nigeria. (Compl. at ¶ 6-7.) In 1996, while plaintiff was living in Nigeria, his mother was naturalized as a United States citizen. [200]*200Id. In 1997, when Akran was 17 years old, he was admitted to the United States as a legal permanent resident. (Compl. at ¶ 8-9.) Although it is unclear whether plaintiff realized it at the time, he had become a United States citizen by operation of law in 1997 w hen he established permanent residence in the country. (Compl. at ¶ 11); see 8 U.S.C. § 1432(a)(3)-(5) (repealed 2000). The right of citizenship flowed to him because the former § 1432 provided that a child of a United States citizen derived citizenship automatically upon:

(3) ... the naturalization of the mother if the child was born out of wedlock and the paternity of the child has not been established by legitimation; and if
(4) Such naturalization takes place while such child is unmarried and under the age of eighteen years; and
(5) Such child is residing in the United States pursuant to a lawful admission for permanent residence at the time of the naturalization of ... the parent naturalized under ... (3) or thereafter begins to reside permanently in the United States while under the age of eighteen years.

Id. (emphasis added). In accordance with these provisions, manifestly, because it now appears that Akran’s father never legitimated him in Nigeria, w hen Akran was lawfully admitted to the United States when he was 17 years old, because his mother was a naturalized United States citizen, Akran became a United States citizen too by operation of law. Notably, however, it was an event that went unnoticed and unremedied for a decade. Neither Akran nor his mother applied for Akran’s certificate of citizenship until 2007.1

On August 9, 2005, Akran was convicted of fraud, bank fraud, conspiracy to commit identification fraud, and identification fraud in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. (Def.’s Mem. Ex. 7.)2 He was sentenced to 33 months custody and ordered to pay restitution of $52,500. As part of the same prosecution, Akran was also convicted on one count of committing an offense while on release. On that count he was sentenced to a prison term of 13 months, to run consecutively to his 33 month sentence, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $67,679.29. Plaintiff served his sentences at the Federal Correction Institution in Otisville, New York (“FCI Otis-ville”).

On March 17, 2007, while Akran was serving his sentence in FCI Otisville, he was questioned by Immigration Customs and Enforcement (“ICE”) Agent Jose de Jesus about his citizenship status. (Compl. at ¶ 12.) Akran alleges that, during this interview Agent de Jesus “became aware” of sufficient information to conclude that Akran had derived citizenship from his mother’s naturalization. (Compl. at ¶ 12.) The complaint does not allege what facts Akran conveyed to the agent that support plaintiffs conclusion. In any event, a warrant was issued for Akran’s arrest in connection with removal proceedings. With the lodging of this detainer, following the conclusion of Akran’s sentence at FCI Otisville on April 17, 2007 he was transferred to ICE’s custody at Port Isabel Processing Center in Los Frenos, Texas. (Compl. at ¶ 15-16.)

Akran remained in detention in Los Frenos without a hearing for three [201]*201months. On July 16, 2007, a bond hearing was convened before the Executive Office for Immigration Review. (Compl. at ¶ 17; Def.’s Mem. Ex. 13.) At that hearing, an immigration judge denied bond, informing Akran that he needed to present evidence of his father’s non-legitimation. Id. On July 23, 2007 a second hearing was held before the same immigration judge, at which time he presented “evidence and argument” that he was a United States citizen. (Compl. at ¶ 17.) Specifically, Ak-ran presented an affidavit from his mother as well as a copy of his mother’s naturalization certificate. (Def. Mem. Ex. 14.) Akran also testified that his father never legitimated him. Id. Nevertheless, in a written decision, dated August 2, 2007, the immigration judge refused to release plaintiff from custody on the finding that his mother’s affidavit did not state that Ak-ran’s father never legitimated him. (Def. Mem. Ex. 15.) Akran appealed that decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”), and, on September 25, 2007, the BIA affirmed the IJ’s decision without opinion.

Then, on October 5, 2007, while still in custody in Texas, plaintiff filed an application for a certificate of citizenship with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“CIS”). (Compl. at ¶ 19.) Ak-ran’s citizenship application was totally independent from and unconnected to the removal proceedings that had resulted in his detention. During the pendency of Akran’s separate and distinct citizenship application, the immigration court held multiple hearings regarding Akran’s citizenship status, but adhered to its prior determinations that he had not established his citizenship and that his release should be denied. (Def.’s Mem. Exs. 22, 25, 27, 29, 31). According to the complaint, on January 3, 2008, the minions from CIS had determined that Akran’s application for a certificate of citizenship was approvable, pending payment and the location of certain “original file-work.” (Compl. ¶ 20.) On January 7, 2008, Akran filed a motion to terminate his removal proceedings in the immigration court, allegedly presenting this further evidence of his citizenship. (Id. ¶ 20.)

Notably, plaintiffs January 7 termination motion (Defendants’ Ex. 28) is very much to the contrary. Indeed, that motion states merely that Akran provided the government with a “copy of the N-600 application filed with CIS, which in conjunction with other evidence ... establish his U.S. citizenship,” and requests that “his case be administratively closed pending adjudication of his N-600 application.” 3 (Id.)

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Bluebook (online)
997 F. Supp. 2d 197, 2014 WL 455533, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/akran-v-united-states-nyed-2014.