Sanchez v. Sessions
Sanchez v. Sessions
Opinion of the Court
PAEZ, Circuit Judge:
*646As Judge Pregerson poignantly described in our prior opinion: "This case is about Luis Sanchez, a small boat owner, who took some friends on a fishing trip within United States territorial waters, and ended up in removal proceedings before an immigration judge ('IJ') under section 240 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1229a." Sanchez v. Sessions ,
Neither Sanchez nor his friends could have predicted the sequence of events that produced this outcome. Their plan had been to go fishing for a few hours, but after they had been out for about thirty minutes, the boat unexpectedly lost power. Stranded and with an infant on board, Sanchez's friend called for emergency assistance. Some time later, United States Coast Guard ("Coast Guard") officers arrived and towed the boat safely into Channel Islands Harbor, a recreational harbor near Oxnard, California, where Sanchez and his friends were promptly detained, frisked, and asked for identification. Although Sanchez complied and produced his driver's license, the Coast Guard continued to hold him and his friends without explanation. The Coast Guard also contacted Customs and Border Protection ("CBP") because they suspected that Sanchez and his friends were "possib[ly]" "undocumented worker[ ] aliens."
Sanchez was eventually taken into custody by CBP and placed in removal proceedings, where he unsuccessfully sought to suppress the Government's evidence of both his alienage and his entry into the United States without inspection as the products of Fourth Amendment and regulatory violations. Sanchez petitions for review of the agency's decision to admit the Government's evidence. We grant the petition and conclude that Sanchez has made a prima facie showing that he was seized solely on the basis of his Latino appearance, which constitutes a particularly egregious regulatory violation. We remand for further proceedings before the IJ so that the Government may rebut Sanchez's prima facie showing. We hold that the agency may consider on remand after the Government's rebuttal whether the Coast Guard officers violated
I.
Sanchez is a forty-seven year old citizen of Mexico. He was seventeen years old when he entered the United States without inspection in 1988 and has lived in this country ever since. Until December 1, 1988, Sanchez's father was a legalized Special Agricultural Worker. This meant that Sanchez was eligible to apply for Family Unity Benefits, a program that grants unmarried children of such legalized workers authorization to reside and work in the United States. See
Sanchez submitted his Family Unity Benefits and Employment Authorization applications to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service ("USCIS") on May 11, 2004. Both applications were granted, with his Family Unity Benefits set to expire on May 11, 2006. Sanchez applied for an extension in December 2008. This time, however, USCIS denied Sanchez's *647applications. USCIS concluded that he was ineligible for Family Unity Benefits and that his prior application for benefits had been approved in error, because he had previously been convicted of several California Vehicle Code violations.
As a result, Sanchez was without lawful status on February 25, 2010, the day he and his friends embarked on their ill-fated fishing trip from Channel Islands Harbor. The weather was balmy and the group planned to go fishing for approximately two hours. The trip was not meant to be particularly arduous: one of Sanchez's friends brought his fourteen-month-old son and the small recreational boat they took out to sea never made it beyond two or three miles from the harbor-well within United States territorial waters. See Proclamation No. 5928,
The friends had just settled into their trip when, approximately thirty minutes after leaving the harbor, the boat's engines lost power. Unable to make their way back to shore, one of Sanchez's friends called 911 to request assistance. The 911 operator, in turn, contacted the Coast Guard for assistance. The Coast Guard proceeded to tow the boat and its occupants back to Channel Islands Harbor. The Coast Guard officers, however, did not inform Sanchez and his friends that they would be detained once they reached the shore. When Sanchez disembarked from the boat around 5:00 p.m., he was confronted by approximately eight Coast Guard officers waiting to take him into custody. The officers frisked Sanchez and his friends and then ordered them to turn over their identification documents and belongings. Sanchez complied with the officers' orders and produced his driver's license, which the officers took. Sanchez later testified at his removal hearing that the Coast Guard officers only asked him two questions while he was detained: his name and address, both of which he provided.
Understandably alarmed by the turn of events, Sanchez tried to ask the Coast Guard officers why they were detaining him. Instead of answering, the officers ordered Sanchez to stop asking questions and to stay put until "some other people" came to speak with him. What Sanchez did not know at the time was that the Coast Guard had already contacted CBP to report "the possibility of 4 undocumented worker[ ] aliens" and that the officers were simply waiting for CBP agents to arrive and take custody of Sanchez.
The CBP officers released Sanchez later that evening and advised him to try and retain an attorney. A CBP officer separately *648prepared a Form I-213 (Record of Deportable/Inadmissible Alien), which noted that CBP had been contacted after the Coast Guard officers failed to "establish positive identity or nationality" for Sanchez and his companions. The form did not mention that Sanchez gave his driver's license to the Coast Guard, but it did note that subsequent Immigration and Naturalization Service ("INS") checks in four databases all returned "negative" results.
Although Sanchez was released the same day he was detained, his reprieve was short lived. The United States Department of Homeland Security ("DHS") ultimately served him with a Notice to Appear for removal proceedings.
The IJ denied Sanchez's motion because he had failed to attach an affidavit in support of his motion; nonetheless, the IJ scheduled a suppression hearing. At the suppression hearing, which was held before a different IJ after Sanchez submitted an affidavit, the Government introduced into evidence Sanchez's 2008 Family Unity Benefits and Employment Authorization applications. Although the IJ found that Sanchez's testimony was consistent with his affidavit, she denied his motion and ordered Sanchez removed to Mexico. In her decision, the IJ found that Sanchez had failed to establish a prima facie case of either an egregious Fourth Amendment violation or a regulatory violation. The IJ also concluded that Sanchez's Family Unity Benefits and Employment Authorization applications were separately and independently admissible to prove Sanchez's identity.
Sanchez unsuccessfully appealed the IJ's decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals ("BIA"). In a brief, unpublished decision, the BIA concluded that even assuming the Coast Guard officers violated Sanchez's rights, the Government was entitled to rely on independent evidence-here, Sanchez's Family Unity Benefits and Employment Authorization applications-to establish his nationality and identity. The BIA therefore affirmed the IJ's decision denying Sanchez's motion to suppress *649and terminate removal proceedings and the IJ's removal order.
Sanchez timely petitioned us for review.
II.
We have jurisdiction over final orders of removal pursuant to
III.
It is well-established that the exclusionary rule generally does not apply to removal proceedings. See Chuyon Yon Hong v. Mukasey ,
A.
The subject regulation,
The Coast Guard is required by law to "enforce or assist in the enforcement of all applicable Federal laws on, under, and over the high seas and waters subject to the jurisdiction of the United States."
The Coast Guard's broad law enforcement powers are not, however, without restriction. Because they are tasked with "enforcing any law of the United States," including all those for which they do not have primary enforcement authority, officers of the Coast Guard are considered "agents of the particular executive department or independent establishment charged with the administration of the particular law" subject to "all the rules and regulations promulgated by such department or independent establishment with respect to the enforcement of that law."
B.
For nearly four decades, it has been the law in our circuit that evidence may be excluded for a regulatory violation as long as three conditions are satisfied: (1) the agency violated one of its regulations; (2) the subject regulation serves a "purpose of benefit to the alien"; and (3) the violation "prejudiced interests of the alien which were protected by the regulation." Matter of Garcia-Flores ,
1.
Section 287.8(b)(2) requires that officers possess reasonable suspicion on the basis of "specific articulable facts" that a person is unlawfully present in the country before they detain the person. The record before us is devoid of any such specific articulable facts. CBP's Form I-213 is remarkably terse in its recitation of events surrounding Sanchez's detention. The form simply states, in relevant part, that "US Coast Guard was not able to establish positive identity or nationality of the 3 adult males and 14 month infant on board the vessel" and that "US Customs and Border Protection was notified of the possibility of 4 undocumented worker[ ] aliens."
The narrative in the Form I-213 is troubling for two reasons. First, Sanchez consistently testified and maintained throughout his removal proceedings that he provided the Coast Guard with his driver's license when he was initially detained.
On these facts, we agree with Sanchez that it appears he was detained solely on the basis of his race. The Government has yet to offer specific and articulable facts that would support the Coast Guard officers' decision to detain Sanchez on the basis of reasonable suspicion that he was unlawfully present in this country or otherwise *651engaged in illegal activity. There is no evidence, for instance, that Sanchez's boat contained contraband of any kind or that he informed the Coast Guard officers before his detention that he had entered the United States without inspection two decades ago. Because race and ethnicity are never grounds for reasonable suspicion, we conclude that Sanchez has made a prima facie showing that the Coast Guard officers who detained him violated
2.
We also conclude that
The Department of Justice ("DOJ") proposed § 287.8(b)(2) -along with a number of other regulations-to "establish enforcement standards in the areas of force, interrogation and detention not amounting to arrest."
DOJ ultimately declined to adopt the commenters' suggestions. See
The Fourth Amendment guarantees that "[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons ... against unreasonable searches and seizures [ ] shall not be violated." U.S. Const. amend. IV. As the Supreme Court has long held, officers may not "stop and briefly detain a person for investigative purposes" under the Fourth Amendment unless they have "reasonable suspicion supported by articulable facts that criminal activity 'may be afoot.' " United States v. Sokolow ,
*652The regulation and the Fourth Amendment standards it reflects are undoubtedly for the benefit of petitioners and not mere best-practices suggestions for immigration officers. We therefore conclude that § 287.8(b)(2) was promulgated for the benefit of petitioners like Sanchez.
3.
This brings us to the final condition that Sanchez must satisfy: prejudice. Ordinarily, it is the petitioner's responsibility to " 'specifically' identify any prejudice from the violation" that potentially affected the outcome of the petitioner's removal proceeding. Garcia-Flores ,
C.
The BIA erroneously concluded that there was "nothing unreasonable about the Coast Guard seeking assurances that the occupants of ... a vessel are entitled to be present in the United States before allowing *653them to enter the country."
IV.
We turn to the heart of this case. A successful prima facie showing of a regulatory violation for evidentiary suppression purposes would normally entitle the petitioner to a remand for the government to rebut the petitioner's showing. See Matter of Barcenas ,
Were suppression of tainted evidence the only remedy available to Sanchez, our review-much like the BIA's-would end here. But that is not the case. In Calderon-Medina , we recognized that regulatory violations may invalidate deportation proceedings. See
A.
The roots of termination without prejudice may be traced back to Calderon-Medina , when we first held that regulatory violations could "invalidate a deportation proceeding."
The BIA's decision in Garcia-Flores built upon Calderon-Medina and recognized that certain types of regulatory violations can "render subsequent agency actions invalid."
Montilla 's remedy fits cleanly within Garcia-Flores 's framework for invalidating deportation proceedings: the regulatory violation took place during the hearing, thereby invalidating the agency's actions that took place from the hearing onwards-but, critically, not any action that took place before. Montilla was not entitled to termination with prejudice because his initial presence in removal proceedings was not the product of a disqualifying regulatory violation. He was, however, entitled to a new hearing because the IJ's failure to properly inquire about representation at the start of his hearing rendered the hearing itself invalid. By remanding for a new hearing, the Second Circuit effectively afforded Montilla a new hearing devoid of any of the regulatory infirmities that had taken place at the first one.
Nor is the Second Circuit the only circuit to have recognized the importance of providing petitioners with a clean slate on remand. The Seventh Circuit emphasized in Snajder v. INS ,
Applying our sister circuits' reasoning to this case, we agree with the Second Circuit that certain kinds of pre-hearing regulatory violations can be remedied only by termination without prejudice as opposed to a new hearing. See Rajah ,
We emphasize that this remedy is reserved for truly egregious cases. Termination without prejudice is undoubtedly burdensome; it effectively means that the agency must hit the reset button and begin deportation proceedings anew. We also acknowledge that the Supreme Court has expressed particular concern with the unique costs of "releas[ing] from custody persons who would then immediately resume their commission of a crime though their continuing, unlawful presence in this country." Lopez-Mendoza ,
"Careless observance by an agency of its own administrative processes weakens its effectiveness in the eyes of the public because it exposes the possibility of favoritism and of inconsistent application of the law." Montilla ,
B.
Applying our test for termination without prejudice, we conclude that Sanchez has made a prima facie showing that the Coast Guard officers' violation of § 287.8(b)(2) was conscience-shocking and therefore egregious. Cf. Omni Behavioral Health v. Miller ,
It is beyond question that detentions and interrogations based on racial or ethnic profiling and stereotyping egregiously violate § 287.8(b)(2) 's requirement that all detentions be based on reasonable suspicion.
We emphasize that race and ethnicity alone can never serve as the basis for reasonable suspicion. The violation alleged by Sanchez here is egregious both for its grotesque nature and its patent unlawfulness. We therefore conclude that Sanchez has made a prima facie showing of an egregious violation of
V.
When Sanchez first decided to gather his friends for a fishing trip on his boat, he could never have imagined that the short excursion would ensnare him in removal proceedings. Sanchez has since introduced evidence suggesting that the Coast Guard's decision to detain him was based on his race alone in contravention of
PETITION FOR REVIEW GRANTED AND REMANDED.
Following Judge Pregerson's death, Judge Wardlaw was drawn to replace him. The newly reconstituted panel withdrew the prior opinion. Portions of this opinion draw from Judge Pregerson's previous opinion in this case.
On September 16, 1993, Sanchez was convicted of violating California Vehicle Code § 23109(c) (speeding on a highway), § 12500(a) (driving without a license), and § 40508(b) (failing to pay a court fine arising from a Vehicle Code violation). On September 27, 1995, Sanchez was convicted of violating California Vehicle Code § 20002(a) (failing to stop a vehicle at the nearest location after an accident). On February 8, 2008, Sanchez was convicted again of violating California Vehicle Code § 12500(a).
Sanchez's group consisted of his two friends, himself, and an infant. The infant was a United States citizen.
The four databases were the Automated Fingerprint Identification System, the Consular Consolidated Database, the National Crime Information Center, and the Treasury Enforcement Communications System.
The Notice to Appear charged Sanchez as removable under
Sanchez argues that the Coast Guard officers engaged in ethnic profiling by detaining him based on his Hispanic or Latino appearance. Nonetheless, because courts have "also used the language of race when discussing the relevant constitutional principles in cases involving Hispanic persons," we "refer[ ] to the nature of the bias as racial in keeping with the primary terminology" used by the Supreme Court. Pena-Rodriguez v. Colorado , --- U.S. ----,
Contrary to the Government's argument, it matters little that the DHS does not formally include Coast Guard officers in its non-exhaustive, regulatory definition of immigration officers. See
The IJ acknowledged that Sanchez's testimony at the suppression hearing was "consistent[ ] with his declaration."
Our conclusion is not affected by
Section 287.12 's bark is worse than its bite. DOJ made clear when it first promulgated section 287.12-previously designated section 287.11-that the provision was "only intended to ensure that the regulations do not create rights not otherwise existing in law."
Section 287.12 thus leaves in place all regulatory rights derived from the Constitution or federal law. This necessarily includes
The regulation need not explicitly invoke the Constitution for the Constitution to mandate compliance with the regulation. See Bridges ,
Sanchez was seized at Channel Islands Harbor, which is not a United States port of entry. See
It is well-established that "the simple fact of who a defendant is cannot be excluded, regardless of the nature of the violation leading to his identity." United States v. Del Toro Gudino ,
Since then, courts have invalidated removal proceedings by remanding for new hearings. See, e.g. , Montilla v. INS ,
Sanchez has also made a prima facie showing that the Coast Guard violated
The Government concedes in its brief that a "stop made solely on the basis of ethnicity constitutes an egregious Fourth Amendment violation." Because
Consequently, we need not consider whether the Coast Guard and CBP officers also violated other regulations.
Concurring Opinion
In our prior panel opinion, Judge Pregerson wrote a separate concurrence expressing his frustration with the Government practice of encouraging noncitizens to apply for immigration relief, and later using that information against noncitizens in removal proceedings. See Sanchez v. Sessions ,
On the one hand, when the Government enacts immigration relief programs-such as driver's licenses, deferred action, and work authorization-it encourages noncitizens to apply and thereby provide the Government with personal information. See Plyler v. Doe ,
Judge Pregerson's concurrence is quoted in full below:
I write separately to explain why it is unfair for the Government to encourage noncitizens to apply for immigration relief, and at a later date use statements in those relief applications against noncitizens in removal proceedings.
The Government should not be permitted to use noncitizens' applications for immigration relief to remove noncitizens from their homes and their families in our country. When the Government enacts immigration relief programs, it encourages noncitizens to apply because there are "significant social costs borne by our Nation when select groups are denied the means to absorb the values and skills upon which our social order rests." Plyler v. Doe ,457 U.S. 202 , 220,102 S.Ct. 2382 ,72 L.Ed.2d 786 (1982).
The Government asks noncitizens to provide personal information to receive benefits, such as driver's licenses, visas, deferred action, and work authorization. But because noncitizens are afraid that the Government could at a later date use that information against them, many are reluctant to apply. See Angélica Cházaro, Challenging the "Criminal Alien" Paradigm ,63 UCLA L. Rev. 594 , 642-43 (2016) ("Coming out of the shadows to be counted and accounted for, however, while it may bring the benefits of work authorization and a social security number, involves stepping into the potential *658net of immigration enforcement.").
The Government's practice in this regard contradicts the principle of welcoming immigrants into our communities. This practice also contradicts President Kennedy's view that our nation's "[i]mmigration policy should be generous; it should be fair; it should be flexible." John Fitzgerald Kennedy, A Nation of Immigrants (1964). We should encourage, not punish, noncitizens who come out of the shadows seeking avenues to lawful status.
I am also concerned about the Government's argument that the exclusionary rule does not apply to Sanchez's Family Unity Benefits and Employment Authorization applications because they predate the egregious constitutional violation. See United States v. Del Toro Gudino ,376 F.3d 997 (9th Cir. 2004).
Categorically exempting applications that predate an egregious constitutional violation from the exclusionary rule allows immigration and other law enforcement agencies to prey on migrant and working-class communities. Law enforcement officers can unconstitutionally round up migrant-looking individuals, elicit their names, and then search through Government databases to discover incriminating information in pre-existing immigration records. See Eda Katharine Tinto, Policing the Immigrant Identity ,68 Fla. L. Rev. 819 , 864 (2016).
Nothing prevents law enforcement from engaging in this unfair tactic if, as the Government contends, immigration records that predate an egregious constitutional violation can never be the fruit of the poisonous tree. See Elkins v. United States ,364 U.S. 206 , 217,80 S.Ct. 1437 ,4 L.Ed.2d 1669 (1960) ("[The] purpose [of the exclusionary rule] is ... to compel respect for the constitutional guaranty in the only effectively available way-by removing the incentive to disregard it."); United States v. Olivares-Rangel ,458 F.3d 1104 , 1120 (10th Cir. 2006) ("[T]he deterrence purpose of the exclusionary rule would effectively be served only by excluding the very evidence sought to be obtained by the primary illegal behavior, not just the means used to obtain that evidence.").
This troubling end-around the exclusionary rule corrupts our justice system. The Government should not be allowed to flout the protections of the Fourth Amendment and then use a noncitizen's application for immigration relief against her or him. We should foster communication, not distrust, between migrant communities and law enforcement.
See Sanchez ,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Luis Enrique SANCHEZ, aka Enrique Cruz Sanchez, aka Luis Llamas Sanchez, aka Luis Charles Sanchez, aka Enrique Sanchez Cruz, aka Luis Enrique Sanchez Llamas v. Jefferson B. SESSIONS III, Attorney General
- Cited By
- 34 cases
- Status
- Published