Dryden v. Green
Opinion of the Court
*498Presently before the Court is the pro se petition for a writ of habeas corpus of Petitioner, Norman Anthony Dryden, filed pursuant to
I. BACKGROUND
Petitioner, Norman Anthony Dryden, is a native and citizen of Jamaica who first entered this country in 2001. (Document 4 attached to ECF No. 4). Following Petitioner's release from Maryland state prison resulting from convictions in 2012 for aggravated assault and marijuana possession, Petitioner was issued a notice to appear charging him with being removable based on his convictions and was taken into immigration detention pursuant to
Petitioner first appeared before an immigration judge for his initial hearing on June 22, 2017. (Document 2 attached to ECF No. 4 at 1). At that hearing, Petitioner requested additional time to acquire counsel, and his proceedings were postponed until July 12, 2017. (Id. ). Petitioner appeared again on July 12, but once again requested time to seek counsel, and his removal proceedings were once again postponed. (Id. ). Petitioner thereafter appeared before an immigration judge on August 30, 2017, but his hearing was adjourned so Petitioner could prepare an asylum application. (Id. at 2). When Petitioner came before the immigration courts again in October 2017, however, he again requested additional time to prepare his application, and his matter was once again rescheduled. (Id. ). Petitioner's November 2017 hearing was also adjourned at Petitioner's request, with Petitioner ultimately filing his applications for relief from removal on December 15, 2017. (Id. ). When Petitioner appeared before the immigration court again on January 31, 2018, his matter was once again delayed for a merits hearing, which was thereafter held on March 20, 2018. (Id. ). As of the date the answer was filed, the immigration judge had not yet entered a decision. It is unclear if Petitioner has since received an order of removal, final or otherwise.
II. DISCUSSION
A. Legal Standard
Under
*499Spencer v. Kemna ,
B. Analysis
In his habeas petition, Petitioner challenges his continued immigration detention pursuant to
In Diop v. ICE/Homeland Sec. ,
The Third Circuit thus avoided its constitutional concerns with prolonged detention under § 1226(c) by reading this *500limitation into the statutory text.
The Third Circuit refined this approach to the statute in Chavez-Alvarez v. Warden York County Prison ,
For several years, the Chavez-Alvarez remained the applicable rule for determining whether detention comported with Due Process in this circuit. The Supreme Court's February 2018 decision in Jennings v. Rodriguez , 538 U.S. ----,
[Section] 1226 applies to aliens already present in the United States. Section 1226(a) creates a default rule for those aliens by permitting-but not requiring-the Attorney General to issue warrants for their arrest and detention pending removal proceedings. Section 1226(a) also permits the Attorney General to release those aliens on bond, "[e]xcept as provided in [ § 1226(c) ]." Section 1226(c) states that the Attorney General "shall take into custody any alien" who falls into one of the enumerated categories involving criminal offenses and terrorist activities.8 U.S.C. § 1226 (c)(1). Section 1226(c) then goes on to specify that the Attorney General "may release" one of those aliens "only if the Attorney General decides" both that doing so is necessary for witness-protection purposes and that the alien will not pose a danger or flight risk. § 1226(c)(2) (emphasis added).
[Section] 1226(c) does not on its face limit the length of the detention it authorizes. In fact, by allowing aliens to be released "only if" the Attorney General decides that certain conditions are met, *501§ 1226(c) reinforces the conclusion that aliens detained under its authority are not entitled to be released under any circumstances other than those expressly recognized by the statute. And together with § 1226(a), § 1226(c) makes clear that detention of aliens within its scope must continue "pending a decision on whether the alien is to be removed from the United States." § 1226(a).
... the Court of Appeals held[ ] that § 1226(c) should be interpreted to include an implicit ... time limit on the length of mandatory detention.... [T]hat interpretation falls far short of a plausible statutory construction.
In defense of th[is] statutory reading, respondents first argue that § 1226(c)'s "silence" as to the length of detention "cannot be construed to authorize prolonged mandatory detention, because Congress must use 'clearer terms' to authorize 'long-term detention.' " ... But § 1226(c) is not "silent" as to the length of detention. It mandates detention "pending a decision on whether the alien is to be removed from the United States," § 1226(a), and it expressly prohibits release from detention except for narrow, witness-protection purposes. Even if courts were permitted to fashion ... time limits out of statutory silence, they certainly many not transmute existing statutory language into its polar opposite. The constitutional-avoidance canon does not countenance such textual alchemy.
Indeed, we have held as much in connection with § 1226(c) itself. In Demore v. Kim , 537 U.S. [at 529,123 S.Ct. 1708 ,] we distinguished § 1226(c) from the statutory provision in Zadvydas by pointing out that detention under § 1226(c) has "a definite termination point": the conclusion of removal proceedings. As we made clear there, that "definite determination point"-and not some arbitrary time limit devised by the courts-marks the end of the Government's detention authority under § 1226(c).
Respondents next contend that § 1226(c)'s limited authorization for release for witness-protection purposes does not imply that other forms of release are forbidden, but this argument defies the statutory text. By expressly stating that the covered aliens may be released "only if" certain conditions are met,8 U.S.C. § 1226 (c)(2), the statute expressly and unequivocally imposes an affirmative prohibition on releasing detained aliens under any other conditions.
....
We hold that § 1226(c) mandates detention of any alien falling within its scope and that detention may end prior to the conclusion of removal proceedings "only if" the alien is released for witness-protection purposes.
Although the Third Circuit's ultimate rulings in Diop and Chavez-Alvarez have been abrogated by Jennings , and those two cases are no longer binding upon this Court, it does not follow that those two cases should be ignored. The constitutional reasoning that underlay the Third Circuit's invocation of the constitutional avoidance canon still provides some persuasive guidance to how this Court should address § 1226(c) claims. Specifically, the Court accepts that the "constitutionality of [detention pursuant to § 1226(c) without a bond hearing] is a function of the length of the detention [and t]he constitutional case for continued detention without inquiry into its necessity becomes more and more suspect as detention continues past [certain] thresholds." Chavez-Alvarez ,
In this matter, Petitioner has been held in immigration detention pursuant to § 1226(c) for just over a year. While that length of time may have been sufficient under the abrogated regime of Chavez-Alvarez to render his detention suspect, the facts of this case do not support a finding that § 1226(c) is unconstitutional as applied to Petitioner. In reaching this conclusion, the Court notes that the majority of the delay in Petitioner's immigration results is directly attributable to Petitioner's own delay in acquiring counsel and ultimately filing his petition for relief, and any remaining delay was not the result of any apparent inaction or unreasonable delay on the part of the Government. Given these self-inflicted delays, and the lack of any bad faith or unreasonable action on the part of the Government, it fully appears that Petitioner's detention still serves the purposes of § 1226(c) -specifically ensuring that Petitioner appears for his immigration proceedings-which as of the time of the last filing in this matter, the Government's answer, were nearing their end before the immigration judge. Indeed, from the time Petitioner ceased requesting continuances in his removal matter, his case proceeded to a merits hearing in the course of only a couple of *503months. Given the procedural history of Petitioner's removal proceedings, Petitioner's decisions to seek multiple continuances in that matter, and the relatively swift course of Petitioner's removal proceedings following Petitioner's filing of requests for relief from removal, this Court cannot conclude that Petitioner's ongoing detention has become so prolonged as to arbitrary or unconstitutionally unreasonable. Petitioner has therefore failed to demonstrate that § 1226(c) is unconstitutional as applied to him, and Petitioner's habeas petition must therefore be denied without prejudice at this time.
III. CONCLUSION
For the reasons expressed above, this Court denies Petitioner's habeas petition without prejudice. An appropriate order follows.
This Court is not the first in this Circuit to reach this conclusion. See, e.g., Coello-Udiel v. Doll , No. 17-1414,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Norman Anthony DRYDEN v. Charles GREEN
- Cited By
- 56 cases
- Status
- Published