United States v. Quijada-Gomez

360 F. Supp. 3d 1084
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Washington
DecidedDecember 20, 2018
DocketNo. 2:18-cr-00110-SAB
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 360 F. Supp. 3d 1084 (United States v. Quijada-Gomez) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Quijada-Gomez, 360 F. Supp. 3d 1084 (E.D. Wash. 2018).

Opinion

Stanley A. Bastian, United States District Judge

Before the Court is Defendant's Motion to Dismiss, ECF No. 37. Defendant requests the Court dismiss the Indictment filed on July 3, 2018, charging Defendant with illegal reentry, in violation of 8 U.S.C. 1326(a). ECF No. 21. The Court held a hearing on October 31, 2018. William Miles Pope appeared on behalf of Defendant, who was present in the courtroom, and Matthew Duggan appeared on behalf of the Government. The Court took the motion under advisement.

After careful consideration of the parties' briefing and oral argument, the Court grants Defendant's motion.

BACKGROUND

Josue Quijada-Gomez was brought to the United States when he was five years old. He was raised in this country, he went *1088to school in this country, and he works in this country.

On June 8, 2010, the Department of Homeland Security ("DHS") served Mr. Quijada-Gomez with a document labeled "Notice to Appear," informing Mr. Quijada-Gomez that the Government was initiating removal proceedings against him. The document ordered Mr. Quijada-Gomez to appear before an Immigration Judge ("IJ") in Tacoma, Washington, on "a date to be set" and at "a time to be set." On June 17, 2010, Mr. Quijada-Gomez filed a notice1 to the immigration court requesting an opportunity for voluntary departure or, alternatively, an expedited removal order.

On August 16, 2010, Mr. Quijada-Gomez appeared before an IJ at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington, for his removal proceedings. At the hearing, the IJ informed Mr. Quijada-Gomez that she could not grant him voluntary departure because he had received it once before in 2008. The IJ found Mr. Quijada-Gomez had no other relief available to him and ordered that he be removed from the United States to Mexico. ECF No. 37-5.

On or about June 20, 2018, Mr. Quijada-Gomez returned to the United States. On July 3, 2018, the Grand Jury returned an Indictment charging Mr. Quijada-Gomez with illegal reentry, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326.

ANALYSIS

(1) The Immigration Court Lacked Subject-Matter Jurisdiction

The Attorney General has the authority to define, by regulation, the jurisdiction of immigration courts. 8 U.S.C. § 1103(g)(2). The Parties agree that the relevant regulation governing the jurisdiction of immigration courts for removal proceedings is 8 C.F.R. 1003.14. That regulation requires a "charging document" to be "filed with the Immigration Court" by the "Service" (the Immigration and Naturalization Service, now Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE.) 8 C.F.R. 1003.14(a).

A "charging document" is defined by regulation to mean a "Notice to Appear, a Notice of Referral to Immigration Judge, [or] a Notice of Intention to Rescind and Request for Hearing by Alien." 8 C.F.R. § 1003.13. Section 1229 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, titled "Initiation of Removal Proceedings," provides the statutory framework for the initiation of Mr. Quijada-Gomez's 2010 removal proceedings. 8 U.S.C. § 1229. The Supreme Court interpreted this statute and found that Section 1229(a) contains "quintessential definitional language" regarding what constitutes a "notice to appear." Pereira v. Sessions , --- U.S. ----, 138 S.Ct. 2105, 2116, 201 L.Ed.2d 433 (2018).

Among the definitional requirements listed in § 1229(a) is the requirement that a Notice to Appear must provide the time and place of the relevant hearing. 8 U.S.C § 1229(a)(1)(g)(i). The Supreme Court in Pereira held that based on the clear language of that statute, "when the term 'notice to appear' is used elsewhere in the statutory section, including as the trigger for the stop-time rule, it carries with it the substantive time-and-place criteria required by § 1229(a)." Pereira , --- U.S. ----, 138 S.Ct. at 2116.

*1089In Pereira , the non-citizen sought an adjustment of status based upon the accrual of ten years of continuous presence in the United States. Id. , at 2110. Because the petitioner had been served with a putative notice to appear, the Government argued that his term of continuous presence ended, under 8 U.S.C. § 1229(b)(1)'s "stop-time rule." Id. In an 8-1 opinion, the Supreme Court held that "[a] notice that does not inform a noncitizen when and where to appear for removal proceedings is not a 'notice to appear under section 1229(a),' " and thus, the stop-time rule was not triggered. Id.

Mr. Quijada-Gomez argues that under Pereira , no "charging document" was filed because the purported Notice to Appear filed with the immigration court did not include date and time information. Thus, he argues, the immigration court was never vested with jurisdiction. The Government argues that Pereira does not apply.

(A) Pereira's Interpretation Applies Outside of the Stop-Time Rule Context

The Government argues that Pereira

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

United States v. Juan Bastide-Hernandez
986 F.3d 1245 (Ninth Circuit, 2021)
United States v. Rangel-Rodriguez
367 F. Supp. 3d 836 (E.D. Illinois, 2019)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
360 F. Supp. 3d 1084, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-quijada-gomez-waed-2018.