Purveegiin v. Secretary Homeland

282 F. App'x 149

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
• Decided: May 29, 2008
• Docket: 07-2029
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

OPINION

PER CURIAM.

In May 2006, Batsaihan Purveegiin filed a petition pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241 in the District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania challenging his detention during his removal proceedings. In January 2007, Purveegiin filed a petition for review of an order of removal entered by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) and a motion to stay removal which were docketed in this Court at No. 07-1227. 1 On March 5, 2007, after Purveegiin had been inadvertently removed to Mongolia while his stay motion was pending, the District Court dismissed the § 2241 petition as moot. Purveegiin remains in Mongolia. 2 Purveegiin filed a timely notice of appeal, and we have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291.

We exercise plenary review over the District Court’s ruling on mootness. Belitskus v. Pizzingrilli, 343 F.3d 632, 639 (3d Cir.2003). Because Purveegiin is no longer in custody, we agree with the District Court that his § 2241 petition is moot. See In re Cantwell, 639 F.2d 1050, 1053 (3d Cir.1981) (“[A]n appeal will be dismissed as moot when events occur during the pendency of the appeal which prevent the appellate court from granting any effective relief.”) If in the future Purveegiin is returned to the United States and detained, he can file a new § 2241 petition challenging that detention. 3

For the above reasons, we will affirm the District Court’s March 5, 2007 order.

1 . Counsel was appointed for Purveegiin, and the petition has been stayed pending this Court's en banc decision in Pieire v. Attorney General, No. 06-2496.

2 . On March 13, 2007, we ordered the government to return Purveegiin to the United States. According to the government’s most recent status report, the negotiations between the government and Purveegiin for his return stalled because Purveegiin insisted that the government obtain a Mongolian passport for him and did not want to be detained upon his return to the United States.

3 . In April 2007, Purveegiin filed a motion in No. 07-1227 requesting that he not be detained upon his return to the United States. We denied his request and noted that appointed counsel could file a motion for bail or release if counsel deemed such a motion to be nonfrivolous.