D.B. ex rel. R.M.B. v. Poston

119 F. Supp. 3d 472, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 102814, 2015 WL 4647932
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Virginia
DecidedAugust 5, 2015
DocketNo. 1:15-cv-745 (JCC/JFA)
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 119 F. Supp. 3d 472 (D.B. ex rel. R.M.B. v. Poston) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
D.B. ex rel. R.M.B. v. Poston, 119 F. Supp. 3d 472, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 102814, 2015 WL 4647932 (E.D. Va. 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

JAMES C. CACHERIS, District Judge.

R.M.B.,1 a 16-year-old minor and citizen of Guatemala, is currently in the custody of the federal government after the Department of Homeland Security designated him an “Unaccompanied Alien Child” on December 15, 2013. Since then, he made one appearance before an immigration judge who terminated his immigration proceedings. Yet, R.M.B. remains in the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services, which refuses to release R.M.B. to the custody of his mother, D.B., who currently lives in Texas.

This matter is before the Court on D.B.’s Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241. [Dkt. 1.] For the following reasons, the Court will deny the Petition.

I. Background

The Court makes the following findings of fact, which are undisputed and “determined” by the Court based on the evidence now in the record, unless otherwise noted.2

R.M.B. is a 16-year-old citizen of Guatemala. (Pet. [Dkt. 1] ¶ 10.) In 2005, at [475]*475age 6, R.M.B. entered the United States with his mother, Petitioner D.B. (“D.B.” or “Petitioner”), leaving D.B,’s biological father in Guatemala. (Id. at ¶ 11; but see Pet’r’s Reply [Dkt. 16] Ex. A [Dkt. 16-1] “D.B. Decl.” ¶2 (“My son has lived with me in the United States ever since he came here when he was about nine years old.”).) Once she was in the United States, D.B. remarried to T.R. (Pet. ¶ 11; Resp’ts’ Mem. [Dkt. 11] Ex. C. [Dkt. 11-3] at 1-2.) D.B. originally settled with R.M.B. and her other children in Rio Bravo, Texas near Laredo, Texas, not far from the Texas-Mexico border. (D.B. Declff 3.) In July of 2013, D.B. moved her family to Corpus Christi, Texas, after R.M.B. “started having problems” in Rio Bravo. (Id. at ¶¶ 3-4.)

' It is unclear whether D.B. is a Lawful Permanent Resident of the United States (see Pet’r’s Mem. [Dkt. 2] Ex. 1 [Dkt. 2-1] at 9), or whether D.B. is in the process of attaining Lawful Permanent Residence status as a victim of domestic violence through the Violence Against Women Act (“VAWA”) (see D.B. Decl. ¶ 9). Regardless, in September of 2012, approximately seven years after arriving in the United States, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) approved D.B.’s Form 1-360 Petition to classify R.M.B. as a Child of a United States Citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident. (Pet’r’s Mem. Ex. 1 at 1.) On February 19, 2013, USCIS decided to place R.M.B.’s case “under deferred action, which is an administrative choice to give some cases lower priority for removal.” (Id.) Consequently, “USCIS [did] not anticipate instituting action for removal at [that] time.” (Id.)

From 2011 to 2013, beginning around the age of twelve, R.M.B. was arrested or charged numerous times with various violations of state law, including but not limited to criminal mischief, runaway, theft, burglary, assault, possession of marijuana, assault causing bodily injury on a family member, and unauthorized use of a vehicle. (Resp’ts’ Mem. Ex. D [Dkt. 11-4] at 5.) One of these charges, making a terroristic threat, was adjudicated on July 19, 2012 and R.M.B. was placed on probation. (Id.) Otherwise, the majority of these charges were dismissed. (Id.) F.our charges, unauthorized use of a vehicle, violation of a court order, possession of marijuana less than two ounces, and assault causing bodily harm, remain pending. (Id. at 3.) During this same period of time, R.M.B. also began to abuse various substances. (Resp’ts’ Mem. Ex. C at 4 (‘When asked about substance use, [R.M.B.] reported he started using tobacco and drinking alcohol at around 10 or 11 years old. He started using marijuana and drinking alcohol heavily at 13. By age 14 he ‘jumped into heroin and cocaine very heavily. [He] would smoke marijuana daily -and would use heroin at least twice a week.’ He was sniffing heroin because he is afraid of needles.”); see also id. Ex. D at 6 (“[R.M.B.] reported he would be under the influence of drugs on a daily basis ... [and] indicated his mother was aware he was consuming marijuana. and heroin; however, she was not aware he was also using cocaine.”).)

In the fall of 2013, R.M.B. ran away from D.B.’s residence in Corpus Christi, Texas to Rio Bravo, Texas, near the Texas-Mexico border. (Resp’ts’ Mem. Ex. D at 4; D.B. Decl. ¶ 5.) R.M.B. reported that he previously ran away from home approximately ten (10) different times, and indicated that he ran away to Rio Bravo because “he no longer wanted to live with his family and wanted to live on his own.” (Id.) (stating “he did not like being at home.”). R.M.B. reportedly rented an apartment and stated that “his friend got him a job driving undocumented people from the border to different locations in [476]*476McAllen, Texas.” (Id.) Specifically, R.M.B. would “do jobs” for the Mexican Mafia, “like [ ] crossing illegal immigrants and bundles of drugs into the US.” (Resp’ts’ Ex. C at 3-4 (“He would get paid over $100 per person and $500 per bundle of drugs, which he called ‘Barbies or Muñecas.’”).) R.M.B. apparently started this work at the age of fourteen but briefly stopped when he moved with the family to Corpus Christi “because there is no river there.” (Id. at 4.) D.B. denied any knowledge of R.M.B.’s activities along the border-. (Resp’ts’ Mem. Ex. D at 4.) R.M.B. also “reported he would carry guns and he has used a gun to shoot somebody.” (Resp’ts’ Ex. C. at 4.) Specifically:

When asked to elaborate, [R.M.B.] reported that he was once taken to a house by a gang member, Martin, and was told to shoot someone who was tied up. “Martin told me to do it, but I did not want to. He told me to get crazy and do a lot of drugs. The drugs, heroin and cocaine, were on the table along with tequila. I got crazy with the drugs and I shot the guy. I killed him. He fell to the ground after I shot him. He had a bullet right here (forehead). Martin told me that they were going to wrap him in plastic and tie something heavy around him and throw him in the river (Rio Grande). I got over it because it is in the past, but sometimes I feel a bit guilty. Half of my head says that it was bad, but the other half says to keep moving forward and forget about it. After I killed him ... that was my initiation into the organized crime ... this is not a gang, it is organized crime because it does not have colors or numbers. It is about business because they call you and pay you good money to do jobs.... I’m not going to go down that path again because I got caught twice, and you don’t fool around with the Border Patrol.” R.M.B. said. He denied shooting or killing anyone else.

(Id.)

On or around December 15, 2013, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) agents apprehended R.M.B. at the age of 14 years old in Rio Grande City, Texas near the Texas-Mexico border. (Pet. ¶ 12; Resp’ts’ Ex. B.) R.M.B. stated that “he was apprehended by Border Patrol while he was waiting for a group of undocumented people near the border.” (Resp’ts’ Mem. Ex. D at 4.) CBP classified R.M.B. as an Unaccompanied Alien Child (“UAC”). (Pet. ¶¶ 12-13; Resp’ts’Ex. B.) During his apprehension by CBP, R.M.B. called D.B. and told her that he had been stopped by immigration in Rio Grande City. (D.B. Decl.¶ 6.) D.B. told R.M.B. “to remind the agent that he had VAWA.” (Id.)

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
119 F. Supp. 3d 472, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 102814, 2015 WL 4647932, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/db-ex-rel-rmb-v-poston-vaed-2015.