Al Najjar v. Ashcroft

186 F. Supp. 2d 1235, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3033, 2002 WL 257357
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedFebruary 19, 2002
Docket0220261CIV
StatusPublished

This text of 186 F. Supp. 2d 1235 (Al Najjar v. Ashcroft) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Al Najjar v. Ashcroft, 186 F. Supp. 2d 1235, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3033, 2002 WL 257357 (S.D. Fla. 2002).

Opinion

ORDER DENYING COMPLAINT FOR DECLARATORY AND INJUNC-TIVE RELIEF AND PETITION FOR HABEAS CORPUS AND EMERGENCY MOTION FOR RELEASE AND PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION

LENARD, District Judge.

THIS CAUSE is before the Court on the Complaint for Declaratory and Injunc-tive Relief and Petition for Habeas Corpus (D.E.l) and Emergency Motion for Release and Preliminary Injunction (D.E.3), filed December 19, 2001, by Petitioner Mazen al Najjar. The Government filed a Reply on December 21, 2001. (DE 22.) On December 21, 2001, the Court requested additional briefing from the parties. (D.E.21.) Petitioner submitted its Brief on December 27, 2001. (D.E.23.) The Government filed a Reply on January 15, 2001. (D.E.24.) On January 22, 2002, the Court ordered the Government to brief an additional issue. (D.E.26.) The Government filed its Reply on January 23, 2002. (D.E.28.) Petitioner submitted a Response on January 29, 2002. (D.E.29.) Having reviewed the record in its entirety, the Court finds as follows.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

This case unfolds as the third chapter in a series of legal actions involving Petitioner. The first was the Government’s action to remove Petitioner from the United States due to his failure to maintain the conditions of his nonimmigrant status (hereinafter “the deportation case”). The second action was Petitioner’s habeas petition for release on bond during the pen-dency of his deportation proceedings (hereinafter “the bond case”). The case sub judice is a habeas action seeking release from detention pending Petitioner’s removal from the United States pursuant to a deportation order that became final on November 13, 2001.

Petitioner was born in Gaza in 1957 and moved with his family to Saudi Arabia one year later. After thirteen years there, he moved to Egypt, where he completed high school and received a bachelor’s degree. From 1979 to 1981, he worked in the United Arab Emirates (“UAE”) on a temporary work visa. In 1981, Petitioner first entered the United States on a Palestinian refugee travel document issued by the Egyptian government. Aside from a brief trip abroad in 1984, Petitioner has remained in the United States since that time. He obtained his doctorate degree in *1237 engineering at the University of South Florida (“USF”) in 1994. In addition, he helped found at USF the World and Islam Studies Enterprise (“WISE”), described as “a think-tank ostensibly committed to educating the public about Islamic issues through research, publishing and seminars.” Al Najjar v. Ashcroft, 257 F.3d 1262, 1272 (11th Cir.2001).

The deportation case against Petitioner commenced on April 19, 1985, when the Immigration and Naturalization Service (“INS”) issued an order to show cause under 8 U.S.C. § 1251(a)(9) (1984), alleging that Petitioner had failed to maintain the conditions of his nonimmigrant status by providing untruthful information to the INS about his marriage. The INS later supplemented the order to show cause by charging that Petitioner had not maintained the conditions of his nonimmigrant status under the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”). On June 4, 1986, the case against Petitioner was administratively closed after he faded to appear at an administrative hearing. A few weeks later, Petitioner asked the INS to reopen the hearing once he received notice, but he received no response.

A decade later, the INS rescheduled Petitioner’s case for a deportation hearing on February 8, 1996. Petitioner’s proceedings were consolidated with those of his wife, Fedaa. At the hearing, Petitioner conceded deportability on the ground that he had overstayed his nonimmigrant student visa, but he sought relief from deportation, including asylum, withholding of removal and suspension of- deportation. The INS objected to Petitioner’s request for discretionary relief. On May 13, 1997, the immigration judge (“IJ”) found Petitioner deportable and denied his application for relief. The IJ designated the UAE as the country of deportation, and Petitioner appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”).

On October 26, 1999, the BIA affirmed the May 1997 deportation order against Petitioner and his wife. Petitioner and his wife then appealed the BIA decision to the Eleventh Circuit United States Court of Appeals. On December 16, 1999, the Eleventh Circuit granted Petitioner and his wife’s unopposed motion to stay deportation pending completion of their appeal.

On July 18, 2001, the Eleventh Circuit upheld the deportation orders against Petitioner and his wife. Al Najjar v. Ashcroft, 257 F.3d 1262 (11th Cir.2001). The court concluded that Petitioner was ineligible for asylum because he lacked a “credible fear” of persecution in the TJAE, that he did not meet the burden for withholding of removal, and that he did not merit discretionary relief on any other claimed ground. On October 25, 2001, the Eleventh Circuit denied Petitioner’s motions to reconsider and for rehearing en banc. On November 13, 2001, the Eleventh Circuit also denied Petitioner’s motion to stay issuance of the mandate pending a petition for writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court. The mandate in the deportation case issued on the same day.

On November 24, 2001, Petitioner was taken into custody and brought to a federal detention center in Coleman, Florida. (ComplJ 31.) Petitioner filed the instant Petition for Habeas Corpus on December 19, 2001. 1

II. Parties’ Arguments

Petitioner argues that he cannot be detained pursuant to the final order of deportation absent a Government showing that *1238 he poses a risk of flight, a danger to the community, or a threat to national security. Essentially, Petitioner contends that the standard applicable to post-final-deportation-order detention is the same as that which governed his detention while he was in deportation proceedings. 2 Because the Government has not demonstrated that Petitioner is a flight risk or a security threat, Petitioner asserts that his current detention violates the INA and his Fifth Amendment rights to substantive and procedural due process. Furthermore, Petitioner asserts that the Government will not be able to deport him in the reasonably foreseeable future, since the UAE will not grant him entry. Petitioner also alleges that he is being held on the basis of his political associations in violation of the First and Fifth Amendments. Alternatively, Petitioner claims that the conditions of his confinement violate the Fifth Amendment.

Based on these allegations, Petitioner seeks: (1) a writ of habeas corpus requiring his immediate release; (2) a judgment declaring his detention to be in violation of the INA and the Constitution; (3) an injunction preventing the Government from detaining him in the future without newly discovered evidence showing that he poses a risk of flight or a threat to the community or national security; (4) alternatively, an order that he be returned to Manatee County jail in Bradenton, Florida, under the conditions applicable to him at the time of his release in December 2000; 3

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Balogun v. Immigration & Naturalization Service
9 F.3d 347 (Fifth Circuit, 1993)
Mazen Al Najjar v. John Ashcroft
273 F.3d 1330 (Eleventh Circuit, 2001)
Wong Wing v. United States
163 U.S. 228 (Supreme Court, 1896)
Bell v. Wolfish
441 U.S. 520 (Supreme Court, 1979)
United States v. William Robert Cook
592 F.2d 877 (Fifth Circuit, 1979)
Zadvydas v. Davis
533 U.S. 678 (Supreme Court, 2001)
United States Ex Rel. Cefalu v. Shaughnessy
117 F. Supp. 473 (S.D. New York, 1954)
United States Ex Rel. Lam Tuk Man v. Esperdy
280 F. Supp. 303 (S.D. New York, 1967)
Najjar v. Reno
97 F. Supp. 2d 1329 (S.D. Florida, 2000)
Zadvydas v. Underdown
185 F.3d 279 (Fifth Circuit, 1999)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
186 F. Supp. 2d 1235, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3033, 2002 WL 257357, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/al-najjar-v-ashcroft-flsd-2002.