Rodas Godinez v. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

CourtDistrict Court, D. New Mexico
DecidedJune 19, 2020
Docket2:20-cv-00466
StatusUnknown

This text of Rodas Godinez v. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Rodas Godinez v. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. New Mexico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rodas Godinez v. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, (D.N.M. 2020).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW MEXICO _______________________

JOSUE ISAAC RODAS GODINEZ,

Petitioner,

v. No. 2:20-cv-466 KWR/SMV

UNITED STATES IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT, COREY PRICE, DIRECTOR MATTHEW T. ALBENCE, CHAD WOLF, WILLIAM BARR, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, WARDEN DORA OROZCO,

Respondents.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

THIS MATTER comes before the Court upon Petitioner’s Motion for Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction, filed May 5, 2020 (Doc. 5). Petitioner requests that the Court issue a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction directing Respondents to release him from the Otero County Processing Center. This case was transferred to the undersigned on May 14, 2020, from the Western District of Texas. Having reviewed the parties’ pleadings and the applicable law, the Court finds that Petitioner’s motion is not well-taken and, therefore, is DENIED. BACKGROUND Petitioner came across the border as an unaccompanied minor. He was transferred to the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (“ORR”) within the Department of Health and Human Services. He was placed in an ORR shelter near El Paso, Texas for unaccompanied migrant children. When he turned 18, he was transferred to the custody of Department of Homeland Security and placed in the Otero County Processing Center. In June of 2019 an immigration judge terminated removal proceedings against Petitioner and DHS appealed to the BIA. The appeal is pending.

Before this case was transferred to the undersigned, Petitioner tested positive for COVID- 19. Petitioner was asymptomatic for fourteen days. Petitioner has hypertension which is apparently controlled with medication. This case was originally filed in the Western District of Texas and transferred to the undersigned for lack of jurisdiction. The Government admits that this Court has jurisdiction over this matter. Docs. 6, 8 at 7. After Petitioner filed this motion, he filed an amended petition, but it does not appear that he seeks to withdraw this motion. Although this was originally filed as a class action, the amended petition removed the class action allegations. In his amended petition, Petitioner asserts the following claims: Count I: Administrative Procedure Act 5 U.S.C. § 706(2). ICE is violating 8 USC

§1232(c)(2)(B) by failing to consider the least restrictive setting and failing to make alternatives to detention available to Petitioner. Count II: APA: ICE is failing to take action it is required to take under 8 USC § 1232(c)(2)(B). Count III: ICE Violation of the Fifth Amendment Right to Due Process for Deprivation of Liberty. This matter was fully briefed on June 11, 2020 and is ready for decision. LEGAL STANDARD “[W]hen a temporary restraining order is sought on notice to the adverse party, it may be treated by the court as a motion for a preliminary injunction.” 13 Moore's Federal Practice § 65.31 (2020); see Fed. R. Civ. P. 65. Respondents received notice of Petitioner’s motion for a temporary restraining order and filed a response opposing it. The Court, therefore, will treat Petitioner’s

motion as a request for a preliminary injunction. “A preliminary injunction is an extraordinary remedy, the exception rather than the rule.” Mrs. Fields Franchising, LLC v. MFGPC, 941 F.3d 1221, 1232 (10th Cir. 2019) (quoting Free the Nipple–Fort Collins v. City of Fort Collins, Colo., 916 F.3d 792, 797 (10th Cir. 2019)). To obtain a preliminary injunction, Petitioner must establish: “(1) a substantial likelihood of prevailing on the merits; (2) irreparable harm unless the injunction is issued; (3) that the threatened injury outweighs the harm that the preliminary injunction may cause the opposing party; and (4) that the injunction, if issued, will not adversely affect the public interest.” Dine Citizens Against Ruining Our Env't v. Jewell, 839 F.3d 1276, 1281 (10th Cir. 2016) (emphasis added) (quoting Davis v. Mineta, 302 F.3d 1104, 1111 (10th Cir. 2002)). “Because a preliminary injunction is an

extraordinary remedy, the movant's right to relief must be clear and unequivocal.” Id. (quoting Wilderness Workshop v. U.S. Bureau of Land Mgmt., 531 F.3d 1220, 1224 (10th Cir. 2008)). Courts disfavor preliminary injunctions that “exhibit any of three characteristics: (1) it mandates action (rather than prohibiting it), (2) it changes the status quo, or (3) it grants all the relief that the moving party could expect from a trial win.” Mrs. Fields Franchising, LLC, 941 F.3d at 1232 (quoting Free the Nipple-Fort Collins, 916 F.3d at 797). Because Petitioner’s request for immediate release from Otero meets at least two disfavored categories, he faces “a heavier burden on the likelihood-of-success-on-the-merits and the balance-of-harms factors.” Id. DISCUSSION The Court limits its ruling to the arguments raised in Petitioner’s motion for preliminary injunction. Doc. 5. To the extent Petitioner asserts new claims in his Amended Petition (Doc. 13), this decision does not address those unraised claims. In the motion, Petitioner (1) requested a Writ of Habeas Corpus pursuant to § 2241 for violation of his Fifth Amendment due process rights and

(2) asserted that Respondents failed to comply with 8 USC § 1232(c)(2)(B) in violation of the Administrative Procedures Act. As a remedy, he requests release from detention. For the reasons stated below, the Court finds that Petitioner has not shown a substantial likelihood of success on the merits and a preliminary injunction is not appropriate. I. Writ of Habeas Corpus under § 2241 for Violation of Petitioner’s Fifth Amendment Due Process rights. Petitioner requests that the Court issued a writ of Habeas Corpus pursuant to § 2241 releasing him from detention for violation of his Fifth Amendment Due Process rights. Petitioner argues that his “continued detention in conditions that place him at substantial risk of serious illness or death from COVID-19 violates [his] due process rights under the Fifth Amendment.”

Doc. 5. He also argues that his continued detention in conditions that do not permit social distancing and do not provide for adequate hygiene, given his vulnerability, violates due process. Respondents argue that habeas relief under § 2241 is not available here, because Petitioner essentially challenges his conditions of confinement. The Court agrees. Petitioner did not address this legal argument in his reply. Habeas relief is only available under § 2241 where the petitioner “is in custody in violation of the Constitution or laws or treaties of the United States.” “The fundamental purpose of a § 2241 habeas proceeding is to allow a person in custody to attack the legality of that custody, and the traditional function of the writ is to secure release from illegal custody. Though the Supreme Court has not set the precise boundaries of habeas actions, it has distinguished between habeas actions and those challenging conditions of confinement. [The Tenth Circuit] has endorsed this distinction.” Palma-Salazar v. Davis, 677 F.3d 1031, 1035 (10th Cir. 2012) (internal citations and quotation marks omitted)

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Rodas Godinez v. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rodas-godinez-v-us-immigration-and-customs-enforcement-nmd-2020.