Dominguez-Estrella v. United States Immigration & Naturalization Service

71 F. Supp. 2d 578, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20718, 1999 WL 987810
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Louisiana
DecidedOctober 20, 1999
DocketNo. Civ.A. 99-1315
StatusPublished

This text of 71 F. Supp. 2d 578 (Dominguez-Estrella v. United States Immigration & Naturalization Service) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dominguez-Estrella v. United States Immigration & Naturalization Service, 71 F. Supp. 2d 578, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20718, 1999 WL 987810 (W.D. La. 1999).

Opinion

JUDGMENT

TRIMBLE, District Judge.

For the reasons stated in the Report and Recommendation of the Magistrate Judge previously filed herein and after an independent review of the record, and a de novo determination of the issues, and consideration of the objections filed herein, [579]*579and having determined that the findings are correct under applicable law; it is

ORDERED that this petition be DENIED AND DISMISSED.

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

WILSON, United States Magistrate Judge.

In accordance with the standing order of this court, this matter was referred to the undersigned Magistrate Judge for review, report, and recommendation.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Before the court is a petition for writ of habeas corpus filed by pro se petitioner, Ramon Dominguez-Estrella, on July 21, 1999. Petitioner is currently detained by the Immigration and Naturalization Service at the Calcasieu Sheriffs Prison in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Petitioner names the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) as respondent.

Petitioner is a native and citizen of Cuba who entered the United States on May 11, 1972. His status was adjusted to that of legal permanent resident on December 7, 1981. On May 8, 1996, Petitioner was convicted of a attempted armed robbery, car jacking, burglary and theft in the Circuit Court of Broward County, Florida.1 He was sentenced to thirty months imprisonment. As a result of his criminal convictions, the INS ordered Petitioner deported/removed to Cuba on May 8, 1998. Petitioner admits that the order is final.

Petitioner states that he is in INS custody and that the INS has failed to deport him. He further complains that he has been detained past the statutory removal period contained in INA § 241(a)(1)(A). He asserts that Cuba has not yet agreed to accept Petitioner. Thus, he asserts that he is being subjected to indefinite detention in violation of his right to substantive due process.

Petitioner does not challenge his order of removal. Moreover, petitioner does not request a stay of the order of his removal. Rather, his sole challenge is that he is being subjected to indefinite detention in violation of his constitutional rights. Accordingly, he requests this court order his supervised release from custody.

After reviewing the entire record herein and applicable jurisprudence, the undersigned finds that this petition should be DENIED AND DISMISSED.

LAW AND ANALYSIS

A. Jurisdiction

Congress has clearly indicated that it desires minimal judicial intrusion into deportation decisions. Judicial review of immigration matters is expressly limited by § 242(g) of the INA2 which provides as follows:

Exclusive Jurisdiction

Except as provided in [§ 242 of the INA] and notwithstanding any other provision of law, no court shall have jurisdiction to hear any cause or claim by or on behalf of any alien arising from the decision or action by the Attorney General to commence proceedings, adjudicate cases, or execute removal orders against any alien under this chapter.

The United States Supreme Court has recently construed the jurisdictional effect of § 242(g) in Reno v. American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, 525 U.S. 471, 119 S.Ct. 936, 943, 142 L.Ed.2d 940 (1999). Although the Supreme Court did not pronounce definite boundaries for judicial review, the court did make clear that § 242(g) “applies only to three discrete actions that the Attorney General may take: her ‘decision or action’ to ‘commence proceedings, adjudicate cases, or execute [580]*580removal orders.’ ” American-Arab at 943. In a recent Fifth Circuit case, the court held that § 242(g) “did not remove federal court jurisdiction to hear a section 2241 habeas petition challenging the validity of the statutes authorizing detention of aliens.” Zadvydas, 185 F.3d at 285. This is so “because the detention, while intimately related to efforts to deport, is not itself a decision to ‘execute removal orders’ and thus does not implicate section 1252(g) under Reno.” Id. citing Parra v. Perryman, 172 F.3d 954, 957 (7th Cir.1999). Accordingly, under the Zadvydas reasoning, this court has jurisdiction to review petitioner’s challenge to the constitutionality of the statute under which he is detained.3

B. Constitutionality of Statutorily Authorized Prolonged Detention

Petitioner’s order of removal is final. Section 241(a)(1) of the INA provides that “the Attorney General shall remove the alien from the United States within a period of 90 days.” An alien is to be detained during the 90 day removal period. INA § 241(a)(2). If the Attorney General is unable to effect the removal of an alien during this removal period, in most circumstances, the alien is released to supervision. INA § 241(a)(3). However, § 241(a)(6) of the INA4 provides for the detention of certain criminal aliens beyond the 90 day removal period. It is this provision that authorizes Petitioner’s continued detention and the provision under which he is being detained. He alleges that such prolonged detention violates the Constitution because it essentially results in the imposition of a life sentence in jail as a consequence of an alien’s immigration status.

However, under binding Fifth Circuit jurisprudence, Petitioner’s challenge to the constitutionality of his statutorily authorized indefinite detention lacks merit. Gisbert v. Attorney General, 988 F.2d 1437 (5th Cir.1993); Zadvydas, supra. In Gisbert, a group of Mariel Cubans, who had been ordered excluded from the United States and denied discretionary parole release, challenged their indefinite detention by the INS as unconstitutional. The court held that the detention was constitutional and specifically that the detention did not constitute punishment or a violation of any substantive or procedural due process rights. In so holding, the court stated as follows:

the INA authorizes the Attorney General to continue to detain petitioners, whether or not they have been convicted of aggravated felonies, until the United States is able to deport them----They want to be admitted physically into the United States----This would, in effect, bestow on these aliens the very rights that were denied them when their immigration parol was revoked on the basis of their criminal activity in the United States.... The United States cannot be forced to violate its national sovereignty in order to parole these aliens within its borders merely because Cuba is dragging its feet in repatriating them. Id. at 1447.

In Zadvydas v. Underdown, 185 F.3d 279 (5th Cir.1999), the Fifth Circuit found [581]*581the reasoning in Gisbert applicable to resident aliens. In so holding, the

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Related

Shaughnessy v. United States Ex Rel. Mezei
345 U.S. 206 (Supreme Court, 1953)
Reno v. American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
525 U.S. 471 (Supreme Court, 1999)
Felix Gonzalez Gisbert v. U.S. Attorney General
988 F.2d 1437 (Fifth Circuit, 1993)
Tran v. Caplinger
847 F. Supp. 469 (W.D. Louisiana, 1993)
Naidoo v. Immigration & Naturalization Service
39 F. Supp. 2d 755 (W.D. Louisiana, 1999)
Zadvydas v. Underdown
185 F.3d 279 (Fifth Circuit, 1999)

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