Primero Garcia v. Barr

District Court, N.D. California·Decided September 8, 2020·No. 5:20-cv-01389·Unknown

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9

10 NARCISO PRIMERO GARCIA, Case No. 20-cv-01389-NC 11 Petitioner, ORDER GRANTING 12 PETITIONER’S MOTION FOR v. ATTORNEYS’ FEES 13 WILLIAM P. BARR, et al., Re: Dkt. No. 36 14 Respondents. 15 16 17 Petitioner Narciso Primero Garcia moves for attorneys’ fees under the Equal Access 18 to Justice Act (“EAJA”), 28 U.S.C. § 2412. Respondents William P. Barr, Chad Wolf, 19 Matthew Albence, and David W. Jennings contend that Primero Garcia is not entitled to 20 attorneys’ fees under the EAJA because he is not a prevailing party, its position in the 21 underlying litigation was substantially justified, and the requested fees are unreasonable. 22 The Court disagrees with Respondents and GRANTS Primero Garcia’s motion for 23 attorneys’ fees. The Court, however, reduces the fees award because counsels’ billing 24 records reveals confusingly vague time entries and time not compensable at an enhanced 25 billing rate. 26 I. Background 27 Primero Garcia is a Guatemalan citizen who came to the United States as an 1 Primero Garcia applied for Special Immigrant Juvenile (“SIJ”) status to obtain 2 immigration relief. Id. ¶ 27. 3 Before Primero Garcia submitted his petition, however, the Court preliminarily 4 enjoined the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”), the 5 Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”), and officials in charge of those departments 6 from removing individuals with a pending SIJ petition in a related lawsuit, J.L. v. Cissna, 7 Case No. 5:18-cv-04914-NC, (N.D. Cal.). See J.L. v. Cissna, 341 F. Supp. 3d 1048 (N.D. 8 Cal. 2018). Respondents, however, removed Primero Garica to Guatemala on June 13, 9 2019, where he was attacked twice over the next six months by gang members. See Dkt. 10 No. 1 ¶¶ 34–35. 11 After J.L. settled, the parties discovered that Primero Garcia had been removed in 12 violation of the preliminary injunction. See J.L., No. 5:18-cv-04914-NC, Dkt. Nos. 228, 13 223. The Court held the J.L. defendants, including the Respondents in this case, in civil 14 contempt and ordered Primero Garcia’s return to the United States. Id., Dkt. Nos. 249, 15 252. 16 Upon his return, USCIS granted Primero Garcia SIJ status and he sought to reopen 17 his immigration proceedings accordingly. See Dkt. No. 1 ¶¶ 37–38. Because ICE 18 indicated that it nevertheless still intended to remove him from the United States, Primero 19 Garcia sought a temporary restraining order from this Court enjoining his removal, 20 ordering his release from ICE custody, or, in the alternative, granting him a bond hearing. 21 See Dkt. No. 8. 22 The Court granted in part and denied in part Primero Garcia’s motion. See Dkt. No. 23 31. The Court denied Primero Garcia’s request for immediate release, but temporarily 24 enjoined Respondents from removing Primero Garcia and ordered Respondents to provide 25 him with a bond hearing within 60 days of the order. See id. 26 Primero Garcia now seeks attorneys’ fees under the EAJA in the amount of 27 $76,524.89. See Dkt. No. 36. 1 II. Legal Standard 2 The EAJA requires a court to “award to a prevailing party other than the United 3 States fees and other expenses . . . incurred by that party in any civil action . . . unless the 4 court finds that the position of the United States was substantially justified or that special 5 circumstances make an award unjust.” 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d)(1)(A); see also Ibrahim v. 6 U.S. Dep’t of Homeland Sec., 835 F.3d 1048, 1054 (9th Cir. 2016). The EAJA sets a net 7 worth limit of $2,000,000 on prevailing parties who seek fees under the EAJA. 28 U.S.C. 8 § 2412(d)(2)(B)(i). And, subject to various exceptions, awards under the EAJA may not 9 exceed rates of $125 per hour. 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d)(2)(A). Finally, even when a party is 10 entitled to fees under the EAJA, the court must still determine the reasonableness of the 11 requested fee. See Ibrahim, 835 F.3d at 1060. 12 III. Discussion 13 Respondents argue that Primero Garcia’s requested fees should be denied on four 14 grounds: (1) Primero Garcia is not a prevailing party; (2) its position was substantially 15 justified; (3) Primero Garcia is not warranted to enhanced rates; and (4) the requested fees 16 are unreasonable. The Court discusses each argument in turn. 17 A. Prevailing Party 18 A plaintiff must meet two criteria to qualify as a prevailing party. “First, he must 19 achieve a ‘material alteration of the legal relationship of the parties.’” Carbonell v. I.N.S., 20 429 F.3d 894, 898 (9th Cir. 2005) (quoting Buckhannon Bd. & Care Home, Inc. v. West 21 Virginia Dep’t of Health & Human Res., 532 U.S. 598, 604–05 (2001)). “Second, that 22 alteration must be ‘judicially sanctioned.’” Id. 23 Respondents argue that Primero Garcia does not qualify as a prevailing party 24 because the Court’s temporary restraining order did not materially alter the legal 25 relationship between the parties. Respondents point out that, before the Court entered its 26 restraining order, the immigration judge overseeing Primero Garcia’s case stayed his 27 removal pending consideration of his motion to reopen. Thus, according to Respondents, 1 Dkt. No. 37. 2 The Court, however, previously rejected a similar argument when it adjudicated 3 Primero Garcia’s motion for a temporary restraining order. See Dkt. No. 31 at 3–4. As the 4 Court previously noted, “there are limited procedural protections available to Primero 5 Garcia during the administrative process pending his motion to reopen.” Id. (citing Sied v. 6 Nielsen, No. 17-cv-06785-LB, 2018 WL 1142202, at *7–9 (N.D. Cal. 2018)). And, most 7 crucially, the immigration judge’s grant of a stay would terminate after he adjudicated the 8 motion to reopen. Given that ICE had indicated an eagerness to re-remove Primero Garcia 9 after violating previous Court orders, the Court found it necessary to enjoin Respondents 10 from removing Primero Garcia until he had exhausted his avenues for relief. See id. at 8. 11 Put differently, the Court expanded the length of the stay imposed by the immigration 12 judge. 13 Likewise, although the Court denied Primero Garcia’s request for immediate 14 release, Primero Garcia obtained a partial victory in the form of a court-ordered bond 15 hearing within 60 days of the order. The fact that the Ninth Circuit later imposed a 180- 16 day trigger for bond hearings in Aleman Gonzalez v. Barr, 955 F.3d 762 (9th Cir. 2020) 17 does not alter Primero Garcia’s prevailing party status. At the time the Court issued its 18 order—March 9, 2020—the Ninth Circuit had yet to decide Aleman Gonzalez. A plaintiff 19 is a prevailing party eligible for a fee award even when “[he] wins a preliminary injunction 20 and the case is rendered moot before final judgment, either by the passage of time or other 21 circumstances beyond the parties’ control.” Higher Taste v. City of Tacoma, 717 F.3d 712, 22 717 (9th Cir. 2013).

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