Aleksei Sergeyevich Voronin v. William P. Barr

CourtDistrict Court, C.D. California
DecidedAugust 4, 2022
Docket2:20-cv-07019
StatusUnknown

This text of Aleksei Sergeyevich Voronin v. William P. Barr (Aleksei Sergeyevich Voronin v. William P. Barr) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, C.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Aleksei Sergeyevich Voronin v. William P. Barr, (C.D. Cal. 2022).

Opinion

Case 2:20-cv-07019-ODW-AGR Document 52 Filed 08/04/22 Page 1 of 12 Page ID #:582

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8 United States District Court 9 Central District of California

11 ALEKSEI SERGEYEVICH VORONIN, Case № 2:20-cv-07019-ODW (AGRx)

12 Petitioner, ORDER GRANTING 13 v. RESPONDENTS’ MOTION FOR 14 MERRICK GARLAND, et al., SUMMARY JUDGMENT [42] AND 15 DENYING PETITIONER’S MOTION Respondents. FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT [43] 16 17 18 I. INTRODUCTION 19 Petitioner Aleksei Sergeyevich Voronin filed a petition for review of a decision 20 by the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration 21 Services (“USCIS”) to deny Voronin’s Form I-485 Application for Permanent 22 Residence. (See Pet., ECF No. 1.) Voronin asserts claims for declaratory and 23 injunctive relief against Respondents Merrick B. Garland as U.S. Attorney General; 24 Alejandro Mayorkas as Secretary of the DHS; Tracy Renaud as the Senior Official 25 Performing the Duties of Director of USCIS; and Lory C. Torres as District Director 26 of USCIS, Los Angeles Field Office.1 (See Compl., ECF No. 7.) 27 1 Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 25(d), Attorney General Merrick B. Garland was automatically 28 substituted for his predecessors, Jeffrey A. Rosen and William P. Barr; Alejandro Mayorkas was automatically substituted for his predecessor, Chad Wolf; Tracy Renaud was automatically Case 2:20-cv-07019-ODW-AGR Document 52 Filed 08/04/22 Page 2 of 12 Page ID #:583

1 Each side now moves for summary judgment by way of cross-Motions with 2 intertwined briefing. (Resp’ts.’ Mot. Summ. J. (“Mot.”), ECF No. 42; Pet’r’s Opp’n 3 Resp’ts’ Mot. & Pet’r’s Mot. Summ. J. (“Opp’n”), ECF No. 43; Resp’ts’ Reply & 4 Opp’n Pet’r’s Mot. (“Reply”), ECF No. 46; Pet’r’s Reply, ECF No. 47 (“Sur-Reply”).) 5 After carefully considering the papers filed in connection with the Motions, the Court 6 deemed the matter appropriate for decision without oral argument. Fed. R. Civ. P. 78; 7 C.D. Cal. L.R. 7–15. For the following reasons, the Court GRANTS Respondents’ 8 Motion and DENIES Voronin’s Motion. 9 II. BACKGROUND 10 Voronin stipulates that all the facts in Respondents’ Statement of 11 Uncontroverted Facts and Conclusions of Law are undisputed. (Sur-Reply 2.) Those 12 facts are as follows. 13 Voronin is a national of the Russian Federation and was last admitted to the 14 United States on April 17, 2013. (Resp’ts’ Statement of Uncontroverted Facts & 15 Conclusions of Law (“SUF”) 1, ECF No. 42-1.) On April 21, 2014, Voronin became 16 an asylee. (SUF 2.) On April 22, 2015, using Form I-485, Voronin applied to USCIS 17 for adjustment of his status to that of a lawful permanent resident. (SUF 3.) 18 In June or July 2015, Voronin began working at Los Angeles Wonderland 19 Caregivers, a cannabis cultivation collective. (SUF 4.) Under California law, 20 premises that cultivate or sell cannabis must have a digital video surveillance system, 21 and the system must adhere to certain standards. 4 Cal. Code Regs. § 15044 (2022). 22 Voronin’s job was at Wonderland to install and maintain a compliant video 23 surveillance system at Wonderland’s premises. (SUF 5.) 24 Under the cannabis laws in effect in California at the time, in order to work for 25 Wonderland, Voronin was required to become a member of Wonderland’s cannabis 26 collective, which he did by signing Wonderland’s collective agreement. (SUF 6.) 27

28 substituted for her predecessor, Kenneth Cuccinelli; and Lory C. Torres was automatically substituted for her predecessor, Corrina A. Luna.

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1 Under the agreement, Voronin and other members of the collective received a 2 “reimbursement fee” for their contributions to the collective, and Voronin himself 3 received about $2,000 per month for his services. (SUF 7; Pet’r’s Statement of 4 Genuine Issues (“SGI”) 6, ECF No. 46-1.) The agreement advised signatories that: 5 Despite California’s medical cannabis laws and the terms and conditions 6 of this Agreement, California medical cannabis cultivators, transporters, distributors or possessors may still be subject to arrest by state or federal 7 officers and prosecuted under state or federal law. The Federal Controlled 8 Substance Act (21 U.S.C. § 801) prohibits the manufacture, distribution and possession of cannabis without any exemptions for medical use. 9 10 (SUF 10.) Although being a member of the collective afforded Voronin the 11 opportunity to receive cannabis plants to grow on his own, Voronin never received 12 any cannabis plants from Wonderland, and Voronin’s duties with Wonderland never 13 involved growing, selling, or processing cannabis. (Certified Administrative Record 14 (“CAR”) 93, ECF No. 35-1.) 15 Wonderland did not have a license under California law to grow cannabis at the 16 location where Voronin provided his services. (SUF 12.) Thus, in October 2015, the 17 police raided the Wonderland premises, arresting Voronin and others. (SUF 11.) 18 Voronin was charged with a violation of California Health and Safety Code section 19 11358, which imposes penalties for “[e]ach person who plants, cultivates, harvests, 20 dries, or processes cannabis plants, or any part thereof, except as otherwise provided 21 by law.” (SUF 13.) Eventually, in 2017, Voronin pleaded guilty to a violation of Los 22 Angeles Municipal Code section 12.21(A)(1)(a), a zoning ordinance, based on 23 Wonderland’s unlicensed use of the premises to grow cannabis. (SGI 18.) 24 During the pendency of these criminal proceedings, USCIS held Voronin’s 25 Form I-485 application in abeyance. (SUF 16.) On June 11, 2019, USCIS issued a 26 notice of intent to deny Voronin’s application for permanent residence (“NOID”), 27 citing Immigration Nationality Act (“INA”) § 212(a)(2)(C) as the basis for the 28 intended denial. (SUF 17; CAR 92–97.) Voronin, represented by his present counsel,

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1 filed a brief in response to the NOID, arguing that (1) USCIS’s finding that Voronin 2 assisted in the illicit trafficking of cannabis was incorrect as a matter of law; (2) INA 3 § 212(a)(2)(C) is void for vagueness; and (3) by denying his application, USCIS 4 violated the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution. (SUF 18; 5 CAR 103–23.) 6 On October 7, 2019, USCIS issued its decision denying Voronin’s I-485 7 application for permanent residence (“Decision”). (SUF 19.) USCIS found Voronin 8 had not overcome the basis for inadmissibility set forth in the NOID because 9 (1) USCIS is required to apply federal law in adjudicating eligibility for federal 10 immigration benefits, and under federal law, cannabis is a Schedule I controlled 11 substance; and (2) USCIS had reason to believe that Voronin had assisted in the 12 trafficking of cannabis, rendering him inadmissible under INA § 212(a)(2)(C). (SUF 13 19–20.) USCIS’s key reasoning in making this finding was as follows: 14 While you did not work at Wonderland on a full-time permanent basis, 15 and you personally did not sell marijuana, your work setting up the video 16 security system at Wonderland and training [Wonderland’s manager] and employees on how to use the surveillance system was necessary for the 17 operation of the business. The fact that you were paid cash and consider 18 yourself as having been an independent contractor, does not negate the 19 fact that your work was necessary for Wonderland’s operation.

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Aleksei Sergeyevich Voronin v. William P. Barr, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/aleksei-sergeyevich-voronin-v-william-p-barr-cacd-2022.