Padilla-Ramirez v. Bible

882 F.3d 826
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedJuly 6, 2017
DocketNo. 16-35385
StatusPublished
Cited by47 cases

This text of 882 F.3d 826 (Padilla-Ramirez v. Bible) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Padilla-Ramirez v. Bible, 882 F.3d 826 (9th Cir. 2017).

Opinion

WALLACE, Circuit Judge:

Raul Padilla-Ramirez appeals from the district court's judgment denying his habeas corpus petition, in which he seeks a custody redetermination as he awaits the outcome of administrative proceedings to determine whether he has a reasonable fear of returning to his native country of El Salvador. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we affirm.

I.

We review the district court's denial of Padilla-Ramirez's habeas petition de novo. Singh v. Holder , 638 F.3d 1196, 1202 (9th Cir. 2011). We also review questions of statutory construction de novo. See Hing Sum v. Holder , 602 F.3d 1092, 1095 (9th Cir. 2010).

*829II.

The facts of this case are undisputed. In 1999, Padilla-Ramirez unlawfully entered the United States without applying for admission or parole. When Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) initiated removal proceedings against him in 2006, Padilla-Ramirez sought to avoid removal by applying for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Convention). These applications were denied, but the immigration judge (IJ) allowed Padilla-Ramirez to depart the country voluntarily. In the event that Padilla-Ramirez failed to depart timely, the order of voluntary departure would become an order of removal.

Padilla-Ramirez appealed unsuccessfully the IJ's orders to the Board of Immigration Appeals (Board). He managed to obtain a sixty-day extension of his voluntary departure period, but failed to depart by the deadline. As a result, the voluntary departure order was converted into a removal order that became effective on January 25, 2009. ICE removed Padilla-Ramirez to El Salvador in February 2010.

In December 2015, ICE discovered that Padilla-Ramirez had re-entered the country illegally and was being detained in Idaho in connection with a state criminal prosecution. ICE promptly reinstated Padilla-Ramirez's original removal order pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1231(a)(5) and, following the dismissal of his state charges, took custody of Padilla-Ramirez in February 2016. Padilla-Ramirez then asserted that he feared returning to El Salvador and was referred to an asylum officer for a reasonable fear determination pursuant to 8 C.F.R. § 208.31. The asylum officer found that Padilla-Ramirez had stated a reasonable fear of persecution or torture if he were removed to El Salvador and referred him to an IJ to determine whether he is eligible for withholding of removal or protection under the Convention. These "withholding-only" proceedings are ongoing.

Padilla-Ramirez filed the instant habeas petition after the IJ denied his request for a bond hearing on grounds that she lacked jurisdiction to consider the request. The district court denied the petition on substantially the same grounds, concluding that Padilla-Ramirez is detained pursuant to a provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (Act) that does not allow for bond hearings. Padilla-Ramirez appeals.

III.

Our task in this case is to determine which provision of the Act governs Padilla-Ramirez's detention. Padilla-Ramirez argues that he is detained pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), which grants the Attorney General discretion to detain an alien "pending a decision on whether the alien is to be removed from the United States." 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a)(1). That section also permits the Attorney General to release the alien on bond or conditional parole. Id. § 1226(a)(2). Pursuant to regulations, an initial custody determination under section 1226(a) is made by the district director, but the detainee may request an additional bond hearing before an IJ. 8 C.F.R. § 236.1(d)(1). As stated, Padilla-Ramirez requested such a bond hearing, but the IJ denied his request.

Conversely, the government contends that Padilla-Ramirez is detained pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1231(a). Section 1231(a) provides for mandatory detention during a ninety-day "removal period," id. § 1231(a)(2), and discretionary detention "beyond the removal period" in certain circumstances, id. § 1231(a)(6). The bond hearing authorized under *8308 C.F.R. § 236.1(d)(1) does not apply to detentions authorized under section 1231(a). Thus, Padilla-Ramirez's entitlement to a bond hearing hinges on whether he is detained pursuant to section 1226(a) or section 1231(a).

Our decision only addresses Padilla-Ramirez's entitlement to an initial bond hearing under 8 C.F.R. § 236.1. We do not address Padilla-Ramirez's entitlement to a bond hearing after prolonged detention. We previously have held that "individuals detained under § 1231(a)(6) are entitled to the same procedural safeguards against prolonged detention as individuals detained under § 1226(a)." Diouf v. Napolitano

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Bluebook (online)
882 F.3d 826, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/padilla-ramirez-v-bible-ca9-2017.