Portillo v. Hott

322 F. Supp. 3d 698
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Virginia
DecidedJuly 3, 2018
DocketNo. 1:18–cv–470 (LMB/MSN)
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 322 F. Supp. 3d 698 (Portillo v. Hott) 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
Portillo v. Hott, 322 F. Supp. 3d 698 (E.D. Va. 2018).

Opinion

Leonie M. Brinkema, United States District Judge

Petitioner Jose Luis Rodriguez Portillo ("petitioner" or "Rodriguez") has filed an application for withholding of removal with the appropriate immigration authorities, in which he seeks to stop the government from removing him to El Salvador. According to Rodriguez, if he is returned to El Salvador, he would be perceived as a gang member and face a substantial risk of being tortured or killed because he has a variety of artistic tattoos on his body. For the past fourteen months, Rodriguez has been detained in immigration custody while the immigration courts adjudicate *700his application for withholding of removal. Throughout this detention, Rodriguez has never received an individualized bond hearing because respondents believe that his 2011 conviction for felony grand larceny, for which Rodriguez served a prison sentence of 30 days, renders him subject to mandatory detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(c).

In this habeas petition filed under 28 U.S.C. § 2241, Rodriguez challenges his continued detention in immigration custody without a bond hearing as a violation of due process. Both Rodriguez and respondents Russell Hott, Field Office Director, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE"), and Jefferson B. Sessions III, United States Attorney General, (collectively, "respondents") have filed motions for summary judgment, which are now before the Court. For the reasons that follow, respondents' motion will be denied, Rodriguez's motion will be granted, Rodriguez's habeas petition will be granted in part and denied in part, and respondents will be ordered to provide Rodriguez with an individualized bond hearing.

I. BACKGROUND

Rodriguez, who is a native and citizen of El Salvador, first unlawfully entered the United States in 2007 after his cousin was murdered and his aunt received death threats in El Salvador. Pet. [Dkt. No. 1] ¶ 6. After arriving in this country, he was convicted in 2010 of concealing merchandise, a misdemeanor, and in 2011 of grand larceny, a felony. Id. For the first conviction, he received a sentence of 30 days imprisonment, all of which was suspended, and for the second conviction, he received a sentence of three years imprisonment, with two years and eleven months suspended. Id. After serving the latter sentence, he was deported. Id.

Rodriguez alleges in his petition that after he returned to El Salvador, he had several encounters with gang members and police that placed him in fear for his safety. Pet. Ex. 5 [Dkt. No. 21] 2. On one occasion, while boarding a bus, he was approached by gang members who demanded that he remove his shirt so they could determine whether he had tattoos. Id. at 2-3. On another occasion, police officers approached Rodriguez and his friends while they were in a park, searched Rodriguez for tattoos, and then detained him for approximately two hours and beat him with police batons, breaking his hand. Id. at 3, 5. Lastly, Rodriguez was approached by gang members who asked him about his tattoos and demanded that he either join their gang or leave the country. Id. at 3.1 As a result of these encounters, Rodriguez unlawfully returned to the United States in August 2012. Pet. Mem. [Dkt. No. 16] 2.

Since his return to the United States, Rodriguez has been convicted of two traffic-related criminal acts. In October 2014, he was convicted of driving without a driver's license, for which he was fined. Resp. Ex. 1 [Dkt. No. 7-1] ¶ 14. In July 2016, he was convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol ("DUI"), for which he was sentenced to 30 days imprisonment, with 25 days suspended. Id. ¶ 15. After he was released from local custody for the DUI

*701conviction, he was taken into ICE custody on August 31, 2016; transferred to the custody of the United States Marshals Service; and prosecuted in this court for illegal reentry. Id. ¶¶ 18-20. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to nine months imprisonment. After serving that sentence, he was transferred back into ICE custody on April 20, 2017. Id. ¶¶ 20-21; Resp. Reply 3 n.1. Because Rodriguez had expressed a fear of returning to El Salvador, his case was referred to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services' Arlington Asylum Office ("Asylum Office"). Resp. Ex. 1, at ¶ 21. On May 12, 2017, the Asylum Office determined that Rodriguez had expressed a reasonable fear of persecution or torture if he were returned to El Salvador and referred the case to the Immigration Court for withholding-only proceedings. Id. ¶ 22.

Throughout the summer and fall of 2017, the Immigration Court conducted withholding-only proceedings: Rodriguez filed his application for withholding on June 13, 2017; he appeared via videoconference for his initial master calendar hearing on June 20, 2017; and he appeared via videoconference for his merits hearing on October 19, 2017 (after the court sua sponte rescheduled the hearing from August 30, 2017).

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Bluebook (online)
322 F. Supp. 3d 698, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/portillo-v-hott-vaed-2018.