Castro v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security

163 F. Supp. 3d 157, 2016 WL 613429, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18488
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedFebruary 16, 2016
DocketCiv. No. 15-6153
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 163 F. Supp. 3d 157 (Castro v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Castro v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 163 F. Supp. 3d 157, 2016 WL 613429, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18488 (E.D. Pa. 2016).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

Diamond, District Judge

Petitioners — twenty-nine Central American women and their thirty-five minor children — were seized by the Department of Homeland Security within minutes of their illegal entry into the United States. Acting pursuant to the Immigration and Naturalization Act, DHS ordered their “expedited removal” after finding that none had a “credible fear” of torture or persecution upon return to Central America. See 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(1). Seeking habeas relief, Petitioners argue that the Act’s credible fear evaluation process is inadequate, resulting in erroneous negative credible fear determinations. The Government responds that the INA restricts judicial review of expedited removal orders, and outright bars the review Petitioners seek. Petitioners counter that such a reading of the Act would unconstitutionally suspend the writ of habeas corpus. U.S. Const, art. I, § 9, el. 2.

Petitioners’ contentions have been rejected by almost every court to address them. I agree with those uniform rulings. The INA affords. Petitioners extensive Executive Branch process, including an interview by a DHS asylum officer, followed by supervisory review and a hearing before an immigration court judge. The Act’s restriction on Judicial Branch review of those Executive Branch determinations is constitutional.

BACKGROUND

On November 16, 2015, Lead Petitioner, Rosa Elida Castro, filed a counseled Habe-as Petition on behalf of herself and her minor child, A.A.G.C., challenging the validity of her expedited removal from this country. (Doc. No. 1.) She filed an Emergency Motion for Stay of Removal on November 19, 2015. (Doc. Nos. 2, 3.) That same day, with the Government’s consent, I temporarily stayed Ms. Castro’s removal while I determined whether this Court has subject matter jurisdiction over her Petition, Complaint, and Emergency, Motion [159]*159for Temporary Stay of Removal. (Doc. No. 5); Arbaugh v. Y & H Corp., 546 U.S. 500, 514, 126 S.Ct. 1235, 163 L.Ed.2d 1097 (2006) (Federal courts have “an independent obligation to determine whether subject-matter jurisdiction exists, even in the absence of a challenge from any party.”); United States v. Ruiz, 536 U.S. 622, 628, 122 S.Ct. 2450, 153 L.Ed.2d 586 (2002) (“[A] federal court always has jurisdiction to determine its own jurisdiction.”). I ordered supplemental briefing on the jurisdictional issues. (Doc. Nos. 5, 13, 20, 31.)

In the weeks that followed, thirty-four additional habeas challenges to the credible fear and expedited removal processes were filed in this District (six of which have since been voluntarily dismissed). The matters were reassigned to me to determine whether this Court has subject matter jurisdiction. (Doc. Nos. 16, 21, 24, 29, 42, 48, 50, 52.) I have stayed the expedited removal of sixteen Petitioners. (Doc. Nos. 5, 25, 36, 38, 41, 45, 51.) Apparently, the Government has taken no further action to remove the remaining Petitioners.

I. The Challenged Removal Process

All fifty-four Petitioners illegally crossed the southern border of the United States. (Aaron A. Hull Deck, Doc. No. 20, Ex. 3; Carl McClafferty Deck, Doc. No. 30, Ex. 1.) Some entered by raft; others on foot. (Doc. No. 20 at 11 n.6.) The twenty-nine adult Petitioners allege that they fled domestic abuse and gang violence in their native countries. (See, e.g., Doc. Nos. 1, 3.) All but two of the Petitioners were apprehended by DHS less than a mile from the border, less than an hour after crossing; two were apprehended three miles from the border, three hours after crossing. (McClafferty Deck; Hull Deck; Doc. No. 20 at 11 n.6; Doc. No. 35 at 13 n.9.)

When the adult Petitioners indicated during their initial screening an intention to apply for asylum based on a fear of persecution or torture upon removal, they became subject to the Act’s “expedited removal” process. See 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(1). Petitioners are now detained pending removal at Berks County Residential Center in Leesport, Pennsylvania. (See, e.g., Doc. No. 1 at ¶ 2.)

II. The Instant Litigation

Petitioners all challenge the expedited removal procedures and seek the same relief: that I reject as erroneous DHS’s negative credible fear determinations, vacate their expedited removal orders, and order DHS to restart the removal process. (See, e.g., Doc. No. 1 at ¶¶ 16-17; Doc. No. 13 at 7.) I have received extensive submissions from Petitioners, the Government, and a group of law professors as Amici Curiae. (Doc. Nos. 1, 3, 13, 19, 20, 31, 35.)

Unfortunately, some of Petitioners’ submissions generate more heat than light. For instance, Petitioners confuse expedited removal and deportation. See, e.g., Doc. No. 13 at 5 (“If the Government’s jurisdictional position were now to prevail, it would be the first time in U.S. history that noncitizens facing deportation were denied access to the Great Writ to challenge the legal validity of their removal orders.”). As courts have repeatedly explained, however, expedited removal relates only to the Government’s decision to. exclude (or not to admit) an arriving alien; deportation relates to the expulsion of an alien who resides here. See Landon v. Plasencia, 459 U.S. 21, 25, 103 S.Ct. 321, 74 L.Ed.2d 21 (1982); Galindo-Romero v. Holder, 640 F.3d 873, 875 n. 1 (9th Cir.2011). The law governing each is distinct: deportees have greater rights than those who are excluded. Zadvydas v. Davis, 533 U.S. 678, 693, 721, 121 S.Ct. 2491, 150 L.Ed.2d 653 (2001); Plasencia, 459 U.S. at 25-26, 103 S.Ct. 321.

[160]*160Nor have all the Government’s submissions been entirely helpful. The Government has taken contradictory positions as to whether undocumented aliens seeking admission to the United States have any habeas rights. Compare Doc. No. 10 in 15-cv-6279 (“Thus, non-admitted aliens lack Suspension Clause rights in relation to their admission.”), and Doc. No. 20 at 5 (“[Expedited removal cases involving non-admitted aliens, including aliens apprehended almost immediately after an unlawful entry do not implicate [Suspension Clause] issues.”), with Doc. No. 35 in 15-6153 (“Contrary to amiei’s framing of the argument..., the Government does not maintain that there is no Suspension Clause violation here merely because Petitioners are not lawfully admitted aliens.”); see also Doc. No. 31 at 6 (during oral argument in Clark v. Martinez, 543 U.S. 371, 125 S.Ct. 716, 160 L.Ed.2d 734 (2005) Government acknowledges before the Supreme Court that illegal aliens have due process rights).

EXPEDITED REMOVAL

The issues I must address are best evaluated with an understanding of how the challenged removal procedures came to be and how they operate. The Government has submitted affidavits from the Chief of DHS’s Asylum Division and other officials detailing Petitioners’ apprehension and the expedited removal process. (John L. Laf-ferty Deck, Doc. No. 20, Ex. 2; Brett En-dres Deck, Doc. No. 20, Ex. 4; Hull Deck; McClafferty Deck) Petitioners offer no evidence to contradict the Government’s submissions, which I may consider in determining whether I have jurisdiction. See Constitution Party of Pennsylvania v.

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Bluebook (online)
163 F. Supp. 3d 157, 2016 WL 613429, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18488, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/castro-v-us-department-of-homeland-security-paed-2016.