Zheng v. Pogash

416 F. Supp. 2d 550, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9383, 2006 WL 456261
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Texas
DecidedFebruary 23, 2006
DocketCiv.A. H-06-197
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 416 F. Supp. 2d 550 (Zheng v. Pogash) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Zheng v. Pogash, 416 F. Supp. 2d 550, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9383, 2006 WL 456261 (S.D. Tex. 2006).

Opinion

ORDER

HITTNER, District Judge.

Pending before the Court is Plaintiff Young Zheng’s Appeal of the Department of Homeland Security’s Denial of Specific Consent to Pursue Special Immigrant Juvenile Status in Texas Family Court and Request for Preliminary Injunction and Defendant John Pogash’s Motion to Dismiss. Having considered the argument and evidence of the parties at a preliminary injunction hearing on February 13, 2006, as well as the motions, submissions, and applicable law, the Court determines both the Plaintiffs appeal of the denial of specific consent and Plaintiffs request for a preliminary injunction should be granted. Additionally, the Court determines the Defendant’s motion to dismiss should be denied.

BACKGROUND

This case arises under 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(27)(J) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”), which provides certain alien minors with a special immigration classification that may lead to permanent residency. Plaintiff Young Zheng *553 (“Zheng”) is a seventeen-year-old Chinese national who arrived in the United States in January 2003 after his father arranged to have him brought here by the Snake-heads, an international smuggling ring. 1 He was detained by the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) upon his arrival at Newark International Airport for the next year and a half until being released to an uncle in July '2004. 2 Zheng alleges that upon his release from custody, the smugglers expected him to go underground to work off their $60,000 fee in exchange for securing his entry into the country. Instead, Zheng enrolled in high school in Akron, Ohio and reported monthly to the DHS office in Cleveland as required by DHS. 3 In April 2005, when Zheng arrived for his monthly check-in, DHS attempted to deport him pursuant to the final removal order previously issued by the BIA. Apparently frightened by the prospect of being returned to China, Zheng purposefully injured himself while boarding the airplane, delaying his deportation and resulting in a hospital stay. DHS subsequently transferred Zheng to a secure juvenile detention facility in Houston.

In May 2005, Zheng sought Special Immigrant Juvenile (“SIJ”) status under the INA, which allows alien minors determined to be abused, neglected or abandoned to stay in the United States and apply for a permanent visa. In order to obtain SIJ status, a Texas family court must determine that Zheng is eligible for long-term foster care because of abuse, neglect or abandonment and that it is not in his best interests to return to China. However, because he was initially detained by DHS upon his entry into the country, DHS must consent to this dependency hearing. To date, Defendant John Pogash (“Pogash”), the national juvenile coordinator for DHS’s Bureau of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”), has denied Zheng’s all four of Zheng’s requests for consent to proceed in state court. 4

*554 Zheng filed the instant action on January 18, 2006, seeking a reversal of DHS’s specific consent decision and a preliminary injunction permitting him to apply for SIJ status in a Texas family court before he turns 18 on April 23, 2006. DHS seeks dismissal of the action, arguing the Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction to consider' Zheng’s injunction and' Pogash’s denial of consent was not an abuse of discretion.

LAW AND ANALYSIS

A. Jurisdiction

DHS argues the Court lacks jurisdiction to decide the merits of Zheng’s preliminary injunction request. As the party seeking to ‘ invoke federal court jurisdiction, Zheng bears the burden of establishing the Court has subject matter jurisdiction. St. Paul Reinsurance Co., Ltd. v. Greenberg, 134 F.3d 1250, 1253 (5th Cir.1998). However, before the Court considers the parties’ jurisdictional arguments, it will outline the SIJ’s process.

1. SIJ Statutory Framework. Undoubtedly, Zheng seeks SIJ status because of the key benefit it ultimately confers: juveniles who obtain SIJ status may subsequently secure the benefits of lawful permanent residence, which includes the ability to become a naturalized citizen, after five years. See Interoffice Memorandum for Regional Directors, Subject: Field Guidance on Special Immigrant Juvenile Status Petitions, U.S. Department of Homeland Security INS Policy and Procedural Memoranda, 2004 WL 1638268, at *2 (May 27, 2004) (clarifying the process of adjudicating SIJ petitions).

The INA establishes a four-step procedure by which unmarried aliens under 21 years'old’may obtain SIJ status. See 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(27)(J): First, if a minor is in DHS custody, and therefore under its jurisdiction, he or she must request and obtain specific consent from DHS (acting on behalf of the Attorney General) to proceed before a juvenile court. § 1101(a)(27)(J)(iii)(I)(emphasis added). Next, the_ state court must declare the minor dependent on the court and commit him or her to long-term foster care due to abuse, abandonment or neglect. § 1101(a)(27)(J)(I). Third, the court must determíne it is not in the minor’s “best interests to be returned to the alien’s or parent’s previous country of nationality or country of last habitual residence.” § 1101(a)(27)(J)(ii). Finally, the mindr alien must obtain DHS’s express consent to the dependency order. § 1101(a)(27)(J)(iii)(emphasis . added). This express consent effectively gives credence to the dependency order. 5 See Interoffice Memorandum, 2004 WL 1638268, at *2 (noting that “express consent is an acknowledgment that the request for SIJ classification is bona fide”).

2. Discretionary decision and the REAL ID Act. 6 The Court notes at the *555 outset that Zheng only challenges DHS’s actions during the first step of the process—its denial of specific consent to state court jurisdiction. Accordingly, the Court only considers its jurisdiction over this narrow issue. DHS argues the REAL ID Act bars judicial review of this type of discretionary determination made outside the context of removal proceedings. 7 See 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii). The Act provides

no court shall have jurisdiction to review ...

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Bluebook (online)
416 F. Supp. 2d 550, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9383, 2006 WL 456261, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/zheng-v-pogash-txsd-2006.