Oucho Saelee and Lai Chiem Saelee v. Julio Hernandez et al

CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Washington
DecidedJune 29, 2026
Docket2:26-cv-00735
StatusUnknown

This text of Oucho Saelee and Lai Chiem Saelee v. Julio Hernandez et al (Oucho Saelee and Lai Chiem Saelee v. Julio Hernandez et al) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Oucho Saelee and Lai Chiem Saelee v. Julio Hernandez et al, (W.D. Wash. 2026).

Opinion

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5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 9 AT SEATTLE 10 11 OUCHO SAELEE and LAI CHIEM CASE NO. 2:26-cv-00735-TL SAELEE, 12 ORDER ON PETITIONERS’ Petitioners, MOTION FOR CLARIFICATION 13 v. 14 JULIO HERNANDEZ et al, 15 Respondents. 16 17 This matter is before the Court on a Motion for Clarification (Dkt. No. 11) brought by 18 Petitioners Oucho Saelee and Lai Chiem Saelee. The Court ordered Respondents to file a 19 response, if they had one, by today, June 29, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. Dkt. No. 14 (“Order for 20 Response”). Respondents filed their response on Sunday, June 28, 2026. Dkt. No. 16.1 The Court 21 GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART the motion for clarification. 22 // 23 //

24 1 The Court appreciates Respondents filing a response on short order. 1 I. BACKGROUND 2 Petitioners are two stateless refugees from Laos who have lived in the United States for 3 forty-six years. Dkt. No. 9 (Order on Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus and Injunctive Relief 4 (“Habeas Order”)) at 2–3. Both were ordered removed at the end of the last century but could not

5 be returned to Laos; consequently, they were allowed to remain in the United States on orders of 6 supervision, and built full, productive lives and families in this country. Id. at 3–4. Now elderly 7 and both living with serious medical conditions, Petitioners recently learned that Respondents 8 are taking steps to execute their decades-old removal orders and return them to Laos, a country 9 that they fled as teenagers and that will not recognize them as citizens. Id. at 1, 4, 5. 10 On March 3, 2026, Petitioners filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus and Injunctive 11 Relief (“habeas petition”), substantively asking the Court to (1) enjoin respondents from 12 detaining Petitioners at their upcoming check-ins with Immigration and Customs Enforcement 13 (“ICE”), and (2) to enjoin respondents from detaining Petitioners at any other time “without 14 advance notice of at least six months to one year, a hearing before a neutral decisionmaker, and a

15 showing that detention is necessary to secure their removal[.]” Dkt. No. 1 at 28. The Court 16 denied all relief, finding that it did not have jurisdiction to rule on the merits of the petition 17 because “order[ing] that Respondents cannot re-detain Petitioners at their next appointments and 18 must give six months’ to a years’ worth of notice and a pre-deprivation hearing . . . would usurp 19 the executive’s discretion as to whether to execute a removal order and when to do it[.]” Dkt. 20 No. 9 at 10. Although it denied the habeas petition and all relief, the Court emphasized that 21 this Order does not negate Respondent’s obligation to afford Petitioners any due process required by law prior to any future re- 22 detention. Respondents are expected to provide Petitioners with due process in any re-detention procedure. Further, the Court 23 expects that Respondents will abide by the representations made by their counsel as an officer of Court as supported by a 24 1 declaration from a representative of DHS that “ICE does not intend to detain Petitioners without first securing a travel document.” 2 3 Id. at 11 (quoting Dkt. No. 5 (Respondents’ Return Memorandum) at 3). 4 Petitioners present the instant motion to “seek clarification on what ‘due process’ the 5 Court believes is ‘required by law prior to any future re-detention.’” Dkt. No. 11 at 2 (quoting 6 Dkt. No. 9 at 11). Petitioners also report that they have made numerous attempts to discuss the 7 legal question underlying this request with counsel for Respondents but have not received a 8 response. Id. at 3. In Response, Respondents assert that the Court did not err in finding it did not 9 have jurisdiction over Petitioners’ request (Dkt. No. 16 at 1) and that, even if the Court had 10 jurisdiction, the Court’s Habeas Order confirms Petitioners have not met their burden for 11 injunctive relief because “revocations of release pursuant to the applicable regulations for the 12 purposes of execution of a removal order do not violate due process” (id. at 3 (citing Saechao v. 13 Scott, No. C26-548, 2026 WL 626765 (W.D. Wash. Mar. 5, 2026)). 14 II. LEGAL STANDARD

15 “[T]here is no Federal Rule of Civil Procedure specifically governing ‘motions for 16 clarification.’” Beyond Blond Prods., LLC v. Heldman, No. C20-5581, 2020 WL 11886260, at 17 *2 (C.D. Cal. Oct. 29, 2020) (quoting United States v. Philip Morris USA Inc., 793 F. Supp. 2d 18 164, 168 (D.D.C. 2011)). The Local Civil Rules of this District also do not provide for such a 19 motion. However, “[a] district court has discretion to clarify . . . the scope of an injunction.” 20 Familias Unidas por la Justicia, AFL-CIO v. U.S. Dep’t of Lab., No. C24-637, 2025 WL 21 963246, at *1 (W.D. Wash. Mar. 31, 2025) (quoting Safari Club Int'l v. Bonta, 2024 WL 22 4682396, *2 (E.D. Cal. Nov. 5, 2024)); see also N.A. Sales Co., Inc. v. Chapman Indus. Corp., 23 736 F.2d 854, 858 (2d Cir. 1984). “While such relief is in the sound discretion of the court,

24 courts should not ‘withhold a clarification in the light of a concrete situation that left parties . . . 1 in the dark as to their duty toward the court.’” Beyond Blond Productions, 2020 WL 11886260 at 2 *1 (quoting Regal Knitwear Co. v. N.L.R.B., 324 U.S. 9, 15 (1945)). 3 In some cases, a “motion for clarification” that assigns error to a district judge’s prior 4 order may be properly interpreted as a motion for reconsideration. See, e.g., Munoz-Munoz v.

5 Locke, No. C10-1475, 2013 WL 11319006, at *6 (W.D. Wash. Apr. 24, 2013), aff’d sub nom. 6 Munoz v. Locke, 634 F. App’x 166 (9th Cir. 2015). 7 III. DISCUSSION 8 A. Clarification Without Reconsideration Is Inappropriate Here 9 The primary relief Petitioners seek in their motion is “clarification on what ‘due process’ 10 the Court believes is ‘required by law prior to any future re-detention.’” Dkt. No. 11 at 2 11 (quoting Dkt. No. 9 at 11). Plaintiffs explain that “[w]ithout a court order articulating [what due 12 process requires before they may be re-detained], Petitioners are still subject to the 13 Government’s continued practice of re-detaining individuals at their scheduled check ins without 14 pre-deprivation notice and a hearing.” Id. at 3.

15 In one sense, this resembles a typical request for clarification of the contours of an order 16 granting injunctive relief. “The Supreme Court teaches that when questions arise as to the 17 interpretation or application of an injunction order, a party should seek clarification or 18 modification from the issuing court, rather than risk disobedience and contempt.” Regents of the 19 Univ. of California v. Aisen, No. C15-1766, 2016 WL 4681177, at *1 (S.D. Cal. Sept. 7, 2016) 20 (citing McComb v. Jacksonville Paper Co., 336 U.S. 187, 192 (1949)). While such a request 21 would classically be asked by an enjoined party, it may be reasonable for a plaintiff or petitioner 22 to ask, “what, precisely, is defendant/respondent enjoined from doing?” This seems to be the 23 question Petitioners are asking here.

24 With regard to the Habeas Order entered in this case, though, there is no injunction to 1 clarify; the Court denied the habeas petition and all injunctive relief. The language Petitioners 2 seek to clarify is simply the Court’s general admonition reminding Respondents of their 3 “obligation to afford Petitioners any due process required by law.” But that admonition was 4 general for a reason.

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Bluebook (online)
Oucho Saelee and Lai Chiem Saelee v. Julio Hernandez et al, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/oucho-saelee-and-lai-chiem-saelee-v-julio-hernandez-et-al-wawd-2026.