State of New York v. Mayorkas

District Court, S.D. New York·Decided October 13, 2020·No. 1:20-cv-01127·Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK ---------------------------------------------------------------------- X : STATE OF NEW YORK, : : Plaintiff, : : 20-CV-1127 (JMF) -v- : : CHAD F. WOLF, in his official capacity as Acting : Secretary of Homeland Security, et al., : : Defendants. : : ---------------------------------------------------------------------- X : R. L’HEUREUX LEWIS-MCCOY et al., on behalf of : themselves and all similarly situated individuals, : : 20-CV-1142 (JMF) Plaintiffs, : : -v- : OPINION AND ORDER : CHAD F. WOLF, in his official capacity as Acting : Secretary of Homeland Security, et al., : : Defendants. : : ---------------------------------------------------------------------- X JESSE M. FURMAN, United States District Judge: Plaintiffs in these two lawsuits challenge a decision of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) to suspend the eligibility of all New York residents to enroll or re-enroll in the Trusted Traveler Programs (“TTPs”) operated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”). DHS’s decision (the “TTP Decision”) was announced in a February 5, 2020 letter authored by Defendant Chad Wolf, purportedly the Acting Secretary of Homeland Security. See ECF No. 75-1(“AR”), at 1-3.1 Plaintiffs —the State of New York (“New York”) and a since-certified class of New Yorkers —sued a few days later, alleging that DHS’s decision violates the Fifth and Tenth Amendments of the United States Constitution, as well as provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”), 5 U.S.C. §§ 701 et seq. See ECF No. 1 (“New York Compl.”), ¶¶ 104-40; 20-CV-1142, ECF No. 24 (“Lewis-McCoy Compl.”), ¶¶ 112-16.

Thereafter, Defendants filed a motion to dismiss Plaintiffs’ constitutional claims and a motion for summary judgment on Plaintiffs’ APA claims; Plaintiffs cross-moved for summary judgment on their APA claims. See ECF Nos. 29, 67, 78; 20-CV-1142, ECF Nos. 32, 73, 84. On July 23, 2020 —the daybeforeDefendants’ opposition to Plaintiffs’ cross-motion was due, seeECF No. 61 —DHSannounced that itwas “lift[ing]its ban on the Trusted Traveler Program (TTP) for New York residents,” effective immediately. New York Amends Dangerous Green Light Law to Cooperate with Federal Law Enforcement on DMV Records,U.S.DEP’T OF HOMELAND SEC.(July 23, 2020), https://www.dhs.gov/news/2020/07/23/new-york-amends-

1 Unless otherwise noted, all references to docket entries are to 20-CV-1127; citations to the administrative record refer to the Bates-stamped page numbers beginning with the prefix “DHSGLL.” The Court uses the word “purportedly” because there is some doubt whether Wolf was then (and is now) lawfully exercising the authority of Acting Secretary of Homeland Security. See, e.g.,Nw. Immigrant Rights Project v. U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Servs., No. 19-3283 (RDM), 2020 WL 5995206, at *24 (D.D.C. Oct. 8, 2020) (holding that the appointment of Wolf as Acting Secretary was legallyineffective); Immigrant Legal Res. Ctr. v. Wolf,— F. Supp. 3d —, No. 20-CV-05883-JSW, 2020 WL 5798269, at *9 (N.D. Cal. Sept. 29, 2020) (finding thatthe plaintiffs were “likely to succeed on the merits of their claim that Mr.Wolf was not validly servingin office”); Casade Md., Inc.v. Wolf,—F. Supp. 3d —, No. 8:20-CV- 02118-PX, 2020 WL 5500165, at *23 (D. Md. Sept. 11, 2020) (finding that the plaintiffs were “likely to demonstrate” that “Wolf’s installationas Acting Secretary” wasunlawful);U.S.GOV’T ACCOUNTABILITYOFF.,B-331650,DEPARTMENTOFHOMELANDSECURITY—LEGALITY OF SERVICEOFACTINGSECRETARY OFHOMELANDSECURITYANDSERVICEOFSENIOROFFICIAL PERFORMING THEDUTIESOFDEPUTYSECRETARY OF HOMELANDSECURITY 11 (2020) (“GAO Report”)(“Wolf .. . w[as] named to the[] . . . position[] of Acting Secretary . . . by reference to an invalid order of succession.”). The Court need not and does not opineon that question here and, thus, refers to him belowas “Acting Secretary Wolf.” dangerous-green-light-law-cooperate-federal-law-enforcement-dmv (“TTP Renewal Announcement”). Later that same day, Defendants wrote to the Court to acknowledge and “correct several statements in [D]efendants’ briefs and declarations, and to withdraw [D]efendants’ motion to dismiss and motion for summary judgment, along with the materials submitted in support of those motions.” ECF No. 89 (“Defs.’ July 23 Ltr.”), at 1 (citations

omitted). Defendants have conceded, however, that the cases are not moot due to certain “lingering operational effects” of the TTP Decision, among other things. ECF No. 94, at 2. That leaves Plaintiffs’ cross-motion for summary judgment on their APA claims, which Defendants do not oppose. For the reasons that follow, Plaintiffs’ motion is granted. BACKGROUND The following background facts, drawn from the admissible materials submitted by the parties and materials of which the Court may take judicial notice, are undisputed except where noted. See, e.g., Vt. Teddy Bear Co. v. 1-800 Beargram Co., 373 F.3d 241, 244 (2d Cir. 2004). A. The TTPs and New York’s Green Light Law

Federal law mandates that DHS “establish an international registered traveler program . . . to expedite the screening and processing of international travelers, including United States Citizens and residents, who enter and exit the United States.” 8 U.S.C. § 1365b(k)(3)(A). DHS is required to “ensure that the international registered traveler program includes as many participants as practicable by — (i) establishing a reasonable cost of enrollment; (ii) making program enrollment convenient and easily accessible; and (iii) providing applicants with clear and consistent eligibility guidelines.” Id. § 1365b(k)(3)(E). Consistent with these mandates, CBP operates a number of TTPs for international travelers, including Global Entry, NEXUS, Secure Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid Inspection (“SENTRI”), and Free and Secure Trade (“FAST”). See AR 50. These TTPs “allow pre-enrolled, low-risk participants to receive expedited border processing, enabling CBP to direct additional scrutiny to the unknown, potentially higher risk, travelers arriving at ports of entry.” Id. By January 2020, “[m]ore than 814,000 NY residents [we]re CBP TTP members and over 62,000 NY residents ha[d] a TTP application pending vetting.” Id. at 34.

On June 17, 2019, New York enacted the Driver’s License Access and Privacy Act, 2019 Sess. Laws of N.Y. ch. 37 (A. 3675-B), also known as the “Green Light Law.” To the extent relevant here, the Act had two effects. First, it authorized the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (“DMV”) to issue driver’s licenses to New York State residents without regard to citizenship or immigration status. See N.Y. VEH. & TRAF. LAW § 502(8)(b). And second, it prohibited disclosing or making accessible records or information for driver’s license applicants and holders to federal immigration authorities absent a court order or judicial warrant from an Article III judge. See id. § 201. The law took effect on December 14, 2019. AR 1. B. The TTP Decision

Two days after the Green Light Law took effect, then-Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) Matthew Albence emailed several DHS officials, including Defendant Mark Morgan, the Acting Commissioner of CBP: “Have we looked at how we can take a DHS-wide approach to deal with this issue? . . . [W]e need to try to take a consolidated approach to look at what services we can immediately pull back from NY as a result of this (. . . I know in other contexts [some have] mentioned things like no longer adjudicating applications, etc.). . . . I think we need to be aggressive, as this will likely spread to other localities if there is not a strong response from us.” Id. at 65.

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