United States v. Castro -Gomez

365 F. Supp. 3d 801
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Texas
DecidedFebruary 8, 2019
Docket1:18-CR-187-RP
StatusPublished

This text of 365 F. Supp. 3d 801 (United States v. Castro -Gomez) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Castro -Gomez, 365 F. Supp. 3d 801 (W.D. Tex. 2019).

Opinion

ROBERT PITMAN, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Under the Immigration and Nationality Act ("INA"), immigration judges are responsible for conducting proceedings that decide the inadmissibility or deportability of a noncitizen. 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(a)(1). Although the INA does not specify when jurisdiction vests in an immigration judge, federal regulations provide that jurisdiction vests when a "charging document" is filed with the immigration court. 8 C.F.R. § 1003.14(a). A charging document includes a notice to appear ("NTA"). 8 C.F.R. § 1003.13. But the INA and the federal regulations define "notice to appear" differently: the INA requires that an NTA provide the time and place of a removal hearing, while the federal regulations do not. Compare 8 U.S.C. § 1229(a)(1)(G)(i)with 8 C.F.R. § 1003.15(b). In this case, Defendant Hugo Castro-Gomez ("Castro-Gomez") was served an NTA that did not specify a time or place for his removal hearing. Yet Castro-Gomez appeared before an immigration judge and was ordered removed.

In this action, Castro-Gomez was found in the United States after having been removed, and was indicted for illegal reentry. (Dkt. 8). Before the Court is Defendant Castro-Gomez's Motion to Reconsider. (Dkt. 41). Castro-Gomez asks the Court to reconsider the denial of his motion to dismiss the indictment in this action. (Dkt. 40). Castro-Gomez challenges his prior removal order, in light of the Supreme *806Court's decision in Pereira v. Sessions , --- U.S. ----, 138 S.Ct. 2105, 201 L.Ed.2d 433 (2018), because it did not specify a time or place for his removal hearing. As a result, Castro-Gomez argues that jurisdiction never vested with the immigration judge, and the removal order was issued ultra vires. After thoroughly reviewing the circumstances of Castro-Gomez's case, the arguments raised by both parties in their briefs, and the relevant law, the Court finds that both Castro-Gomez's motion to reconsider and his motion to dismiss the indictment should be granted.

I. BACKGROUND

Castro-Gomez was indicted with a single count of illegal reentry into the United States, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a). (Indictment, Dkt. 8; Gov't. Resp. Mot. Dismiss, Dkt. 35, at 2). Specifically, the Government alleges that Castro-Gomez is a noncitizen who was found in the United States on April 3, 2018, and that Castro-Gomez was previously removed from the United States to Mexico on or about July 30, 2004. (See Compl., Dkt. 1, at 1).

Castro-Gomez is a citizen of Mexico. (Gov't. Resp., Dkt. 35, at 2). He first came to the United States in 1972. (Mot. Dismiss, Dkt. 27, at 2-3). Castro-Gomez became a temporary resident under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 ("IRCA") in 1988, and in 1991, he was admitted as a lawful permanent resident. (Id. at 3). On March 6, 2003, Castro-Gomez was convicted of Assault-Family Violence. (See Indictment, Dkt. 27-3). His offense was enhanced to a third degree felony based on a previous conviction for Assault-Family Violence. (Id. at 2); see Tex. Penal Code § 22.01(b)(2)(A). Castro-Gomez pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two years' incarceration. (Judgment, Dkt. 27-3, at 12-13).

In September 2003, immigration authorities served Castro-Gomez with a notice to appear ("NTA") at a removal hearing. (See NTA, Dkt. 27-2, at 2). The NTA charged that Castro-Gomez was subject to removal under § 237(a)(2)(A)(iii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act ("INA"), 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii), because he was convicted of an aggravated felony: Assault-Family Violence. (See NTA, Dkt. 27-2, at 2). The NTA did not name a time or place for the hearing. (Id. ).

At the hearing, Castro-Gomez was ordered removed, and he waived appeal. (Mot. Dismiss, Dkt. 27, at 4; Gov't Resp., Dkt. 35, at 4; Order, Dkt. 27-4). Castro-Gomez was removed from the United States on July 30, 2004 and advised that he could never again apply for permission to return based on his aggravated felony conviction. (Mot. Dismiss, Dkt. 27, at 4; see Warrant Removal, Dkt. 27-5; Warning Alien Removed, Dkt. 27-6). Castro-Gomez's removal order was reinstated on May 3, 2018, when he was found in the United States. (Order, Dkt. 27-7, at 3-4). It is this removal order that forms the basis of Castro-Gomez's illegal reentry indictment.

Castro-Gomez moved to dismiss the illegal reentry indictment, relying on two recent decisions by the Supreme Court: Sessions v. Dimaya , --- U.S. ----, 138 S.Ct. 1204, 200 L.Ed.2d 549 (2018), and Pereira v. Sessions , --- U.S. ----, 138 S.Ct. 2105, 201 L.Ed.2d 433 (2018). Castro-Gomez argued that his pending indictment for illegal reentry must be dismissed because his sole prior removal order was invalid under both Dimaya and Pereira. (Mot. Dismiss, Dkt. 27, at 2). First, he contended that, applying Dimaya retroactively, his conviction for Assault-Family Violence is not an aggravated felony, he was not deportable as charged, and his deportation violated the Due Process Clause of the Constitution. (Mot. Dismiss, Dkt. 27, at 1-2). Second, Castro-Gomez argued that he received an *807NTA that did not indicate the removal hearing's time or place as required by statute, rendering the removal proceeding invalid under Pereira. (

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Bluebook (online)
365 F. Supp. 3d 801, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-castro-gomez-txwd-2019.