Abriq v. Metro. Gov't of Nashville & Davidson Cnty.
Abriq v. Metro. Gov't of Nashville & Davidson Cnty.
Opinion of the Court
Pending before the Court are Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. No. 201) and Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. No. 207).
BACKGROUND
Plaintiff Abdullah Abriq immigrated to the United States under an F-1 student *785visa and resided in Davidson County. On April 6, 2017, Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE") took custody of Plaintiff, pursuant to the Immigration and Naturalization Act ("INA"), pending civil removal proceedings. Defendant Metropolitan Government of Nashville/Davidson County ("Metro") was not involved in Plaintiff's arrest.
At the time of Plaintiff's arrest, ICE issued to him two forms, a Form I-200 (Warrant for Arrest of Alien) and a Form I-862 (Notice to Appear). The Form I-200 states that an authorized immigration officer "determined that there is probable cause to believe that Abriq Abdullah is removable from the United States." (Doc. No. 222 at ¶ 12). Although Plaintiff disputes that it establishes probable cause, the Form I-862 sets forth four facts concerning Plaintiff that formed the basis of ICE's determination that probable cause existed to believe he was subject to removal. (Id. at ¶ 13).
After arresting him, ICE first took Plaintiff to the local ICE office and then transported him to the Davidson County Sheriff's Office ("DCSO"). When ICE presented Plaintiff for housing at the DCSO, it provided the DCSO with an I-203 Form, which is titled "Order to Detain Alien."
It is undisputed that, at the time of Plaintiff's arrival at the DCSO in April of 2017, Metro had no contract directly with ICE for the housing or detention of immigration detainees. The Court, therefore, will not address the many arguments and alleged statements of undisputed facts pertaining to whether any such contract governs this case. The issue presented here is whether Metro's actions, taken without a contract with ICE, were constitutional.
Metro held Plaintiff pursuant to the ICE Order to Detain, without determining whether there was additional, independent, probable cause to detain him. Metro also held Plaintiff without a warrant from a local magistrate indicating additional probable cause to detain him. (Doc. No. 224 at ¶¶ 43-44). Plaintiff does not dispute that when the DCSO detains a civil immigrant detainee for whom no state charges are pending, it detains that person based on its assumption that ICE believes the person has committed a civil immigration violation. (Doc. No. 222 at ¶ 18).
Plaintiff sued Metro for alleged violations of his constitutional rights and state law. The Court dismissed Plaintiff's claims for violations of the Fourteenth Amendment, unjust enrichment and false imprisonment. (Doc. No. 137). Plaintiff alleges Metro had no lawful authority to house, hold or detain him as an immigration detainee and, therefore, its actions violated his Fourth Amendment right to be free from illegal seizure. Both parties moved for summary judgment on Plaintiff's remaining Fourth Amendment claim.
*786STANDARD OF REVIEW
Summary judgment is appropriate where there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c) ; Pennington v. State Farm Mut. Automobile Ins. Co. ,
In deciding a motion for summary judgment, the Court must review all the evidence, facts and inferences in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Van Gorder v. Grand Trunk Western Railroad, Inc. ,
On Metro's Motion to Dismiss, the Court reviewed the pleadings under a different standard. Now that the facts have been developed through discovery, the Court may consider facts and documents outside the pleadings under the Rule 56 standard of review. Plaintiff repeatedly cites to the Court's earlier opinion, in which the Court found that Plaintiff had sufficiently alleged certain things, the standard for a motion to dismiss;
IMMIGRATION LAW GENERALLY
Federal immigration officials may seize aliens based on administrative warrants attesting to probable cause of removability.
A formal agreement is not required for local and state officials to (1) communicate with ICE regarding a person's immigration status or (2) cooperate with ICE in the "identification, apprehension, detention , or removal of aliens" not lawfully present in the United States.
One way in which ICE requests cooperation of state officials without written agreements is by issuing a Form I-247 immigration detainer.
DISCUSSION
In this case, no formal agreement exists between ICE and Metro. There was no Form 247 immigration detainer.
Plaintiff was brought to the DCSO in ICE custody. Metro did not arrest or "seize" Plaintiff; ICE did. A person is seized by law enforcement and thus entitled to challenge the government's action under the Fourth Amendment when *788an officer, by means of physical force or show of authority, terminates or restrains that person's freedom of movement through means intentionally applied. Goldhaber v. Higgins ,
In United States v. Laville ,
Metro held Plaintiff based upon a specific request from ICE agents. That request (I-203 Form) was issued and presented to Metro after ICE found probable cause, after Plaintiff was "seized," and after Plaintiff was in ICE custody. Metro did not unilaterally take any action with regard to Plaintiff - it did not investigate, apprehend or arrest him. ICE made the underlying removability determination. If Metro chooses to cooperate with ICE as it did in this case, it has no discretion at all; it merely follows the direction of ICE agents. Lopez-Lopez at 799-800, at *4. Metro cooperated with a request from ICE to house Plaintiff pending ICE's transfer to another facility.
Because it did not "seize" Plaintiff, Metro did not need probable cause. Even so, Metro did not provide housing for Plaintiff without probable cause. Plaintiff does not dispute that ICE had probable cause to detain him. Plaintiff was in ICE custody pursuant to a warrant for which ICE had to have probable cause. There is no requirement for Metro to find additional probable cause that Plaintiff had committed a crime, as Plaintiff argues. Civil removal proceedings necessarily contemplate detention absent proof of criminality. El Cenizo ,
Metro was entitled to rely upon ICE's determination of probable cause to detain Plaintiff. Under the collective-knowledge doctrine, probable cause in a particular case may be established on the basis of collective knowledge of all law enforcement officers involved, provided there is communication among the officers. Tenorio-Serrano at 1066-67, n. 3, at *10, n. 3. The ICE officers' knowledge may be imputed to local officials even when those officials are unaware of the specific facts that establish probable cause of removability. El Cenizo ,
In this case, Metro received an I-203 Form that indicated Plaintiff was arrested and in ICE custody. Those facts indicate that ICE believed it had probable cause to arrest Plaintiff. Plaintiff has cited no authority stating that Metro could or should have challenged ICE's decision. For purposes of cooperation pursuant to
Plaintiff cites this Court's prior reliance upon Lopez-Aguilar v. Marion Cty. Sheriff's Dep't ,
In other words, Metro was not required to have additional, independent probable cause to simply "house" Plaintiff for ICE. Metro was not required to have probable cause to believe Plaintiff had committed a crime because Metro did not "seize" Plaintiff. Even if Metro was required to have probable cause to hold him for a civil immigration violation, that probable cause was determined by ICE and then imputed to Metro. Having found that Metro did not "seize" Plaintiff and had no requirement to find independent probable cause to accept him for housing from ICE (who did have probable cause), the Court need not address Metro's argument about acting under color of state law. Metro's actions did not violate Plaintiff's Fourth Amendment rights.
CONCLUSION
For these reasons, Metro's Motion for Summary Judgment will be granted, and Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment will be denied. Accordingly, this action will be dismissed.
It is so ORDERED.
The I-203 form is not a criminal warrant or a court-issued document. (Doc. No. 224 at ¶¶ 47-49). Plaintiff agrees that ICE typically transmitted I-203 Forms to the DCSO relative to civil immigration detainees who were not subject to detainers. (Doc. No. 222 at ¶ 17). The form at issue says "Please detain" Abdullah Abriq and is signed electronically by "E7733 BAKER." (Doc. No. 31-5). Despite Plaintiff's continued reference to this document as a "purchase order" or "reimbursement form," it is called an Order to Detain and does not mention purchases or reimbursements.
For example, the Court previously stated that Plaintiff had sufficiently alleged , for purposes of a motion to dismiss, that Metro had no probable cause and no lawful authority to detain him based solely on an ICE detainer. Abriq v. Hall ,
Administrative warrants differ significantly from warrants in criminal cases because they do not require a detached and neutral magistrate. Instead executive officers may issue an administrative warrant upon probable cause to believe a civil infraction has occurred.
An appeal of the Lopez-Lopez decision was filed on August 16, 2018.
In United States v. Ovando-Garzo ,
Arizona denied state officers the power to unilaterally make removability determinations because a decision on removability requires a determination whether it is appropriate to allow a foreign national to continue living in the United States. Arizona ,
"Detainer" is defined in ICE policy as "notice that ICE issues to a federal, state, local or tribal LEA [law enforcement agency] to inform the LEA that ICE intends to assume custody of a removable alien in the LEA's custody." Ochoa ,
Form I-247 is used as a detainer when aliens are in state custody. Forms I-203(A) and (B), which were used in this case, are used when the alien is in federal custody. Form I-203(A) is an order to detain and Form I-203(B) is an order to release.
In Goldhaber , the court held that the defendant was not "seized" for purposes of the Fourth Amendment when he was moved from one facility to another. Goldhaber ,
The Court now agrees with the Fifth Circuit that this statement is a misconception. Civil removal proceedings "necessarily contemplate" detention absent probable cause of criminality. El Cenizo ,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Abdullah ABRIQ v. METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT OF NASHVILLE and Davidson County
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published