United States v. Silva
United States v. Silva
Opinion of the Court
This matter comes before the Court on Defendant Omar Villarreal Silva's Second Motion to Dismiss the Indictment (the "Second Motion to Dismiss"). (ECF No. 28.) The United States responded, (ECF No. 31), and Villarreal replied, (ECF No. 32). On May 11, 2018, the Court heard argument on the Second Motion to Dismiss.
I. Factual and Procedural Background
Villarreal, a citizen of Mexico, first came to the United States in 1996 at the age of seventeen. He has six siblings, three of whom currently live in the United States. Villarreal also has three children, ages sixteen, twelve, and three. All his children were born in the United States to Villarreal and his partner, and they live in Hopewell, Virginia. While in the United States, Villarreal worked in construction and sent money to his parents in Mexico every month.
Villarreal has twice been removed from the United States under orders of removal: first on September 1, 2014, and later on November 20, 2014. He also has been apprehended by United States Border Patrol and allowed to voluntarily return to Mexico five times: twice in 1998, and three times in 1999. Villarreal's criminal history currently includes nine criminal convictions within the United States-six misdemeanor convictions and three felony convictions.
In February of 2014, Chesterfield County, Virginia, police officers arrested Villarreal for "DWI, Third Offense," and Villarreal was found guilty. Villarreal's arrest and conviction prompted the police to notify immigration officials, who interviewed Villarreal, determined that he was removable, and lodged a detainer. On September 2, 2014, Villarreal appeared before an Immigration Judge in Arlington, Virginia, who ordered Villarreal removed from the United States (the "September 2, 2014 Order of Removal"). On September 11, 2014, immigration officials physically removed *666Villarreal from the country and returned him to Mexico.
On November 20, 2014, Villarreal attempted to re-enter the United States by presenting a passport that was not his at the El Paso, Texas, Port of Entry. After determining that the passport did not belong to Villarreal, immigration officials placed him into expedited removal proceedings and issued an Order of Removal (the "November 20, 2014 Order of Removal").
The next day, on November 21, 2014, the United States Attorney's Office in the Western District of Texas instituted a criminal prosecution of Villarreal for his attempted reentry. On December 17, 2014, a grand jury returned a two-count indictment charging Villarreal with Illegal Reentry, in violation of
On August 6, 2017, Villarreal was again found in the United States when Chesterfield County police officers arrested him for "Obstruct Justice: Without Force," "DWI: Previous Felon," and "Driving While Suspended." The next day, officials in the Chesterfield County Jail notified Richmond immigration authorities that Villarreal was in their custody. On September 20, 2017, a grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia returned the instant one-count Indictment, again charging Villarreal with a violation of
On January 5, 2018, Villarreal filed his first motion to dismiss (the "First Motion to Dismiss"). In the First Motion to Dismiss, Villarreal sought to collaterally attack both the September 2, 2014 Order of Removal and the November 20, 2014 Order of Removal, arguing that he was deprived of due process in both of those deportation proceedings. On February 15, 2018, the Court heard argument on the First Motion to Dismiss. Because the parties' briefing on the First Motion to Dismiss largely argued the merits as to success under
Villarreal argues in the Second Motion to Dismiss that the Court must dismiss the Indictment because neither the September 2, 2014 Order of Removal nor the November 20, 2014 Order of Removal constitute valid orders of removal on which a prosecution for Illegal Reentry in violation of
*668Subsequent briefing and argument from both parties established that the November 20, 2014 Order of Removal is the only removal challenged at bar.
The Court finds that
II. The Jurisdiction-Stripping Statute is Unconstitutional to the Extent it Prohibits Some Meaningful Review of a Deportation Proceeding on Which a Subsequent Criminal Prosecution is Based
Mendoza-Lopez requires that, "where a determination made in an administrative proceeding is to play a critical role in the subsequent imposition of a criminal sanction, there must be some meaningful review of the administrative proceeding."
The Court therefore must conclude that the Jurisdiction-Stripping Statute,
A. Mendoza-Lopez Requires Some Meaningful Review When a Subsequent Criminal Prosecution is Based on an Earlier Deportation Proceeding
In Mendoza-Lopez , two aliens were arrested in Nebraska, subjected to group deportation proceedings, and ordered deported to Mexico.
On review, the Supreme Court of the United States first held that the language of the Criminal Illegal Reentry Statute at the time did not allow an alien to collaterally attack a previous deportation order in the context of a criminal prosecution under that statute.
The Supreme Court did not challenge the ability of Congress to determine the extent of review-judicial or administrative-provided *670to aliens in the underlying administrative deportation proceedings. Rather, the Court held that "[p]ersons charged with crime are entitled to have the factual and legal determinations upon which convictions are based subjected to the scrutiny of an impartial judicial officer,"
Based on these constitutional principles, the Mendoza-Lopez Court held that it could review the aliens' challenge to the underlying deportation proceedings, despite clear congressional intent that no such review occur.
B. The Collateral Attack Subsection Provides for Review in the Context of Most Prosecutions Under the Criminal Illegal Reentry Statute
The Collateral Attack Subsection,
Section 1326(d) limits collateral attacks in the context of a prosecution under the Criminal Illegal Reentry Statute by requiring the alien to meet three criteria.
C. The Jurisdiction-Stripping Statute Divests District Courts of the Power to Hear Collateral Attacks of Expedited Orders of Removal in a Subsequent Prosecution Under the Criminal Illegal Reentry Statute
At the same time,
In any action brought against an alien under section 1325(a) of this title or section 1326 [, the Criminal Illegal Reentry Statute,] of this title, the court shall not have jurisdiction to hear any claim attacking the validity of an order of removal entered under subparagraph (A)(i)[,the Expedited Removal Statute,] or (B)(iii).
If an immigration officer determines that an alien ... who is arriving in the United States ... is inadmissible under [the "Fraudulent Entry Statute] or [the No Entry Document Statute] , the officer shall order the alien removed from the United States without further hearing or review unless the alien indicates either an intention to apply for asylum under section 1158 of this title or a fear of persecution.
Taken together, the Jurisdiction-Stripping Statute and the Expedited Removal Statute provide that, during a prosecution under the Criminal Illegal Reentry Statute, no court has jurisdiction to review-in the context of a collateral attack or otherwise-orders of removal issued pursuant to the Expedited Removal Statute when the alien was found inadmissible under either the Fraudulent Entry Statute or the No Entry Document Statute. This is precisely the circumstance Villarreal brings to this Court.
1. Well-Established Principles of Statutory Interpretation Guide the Court's Analysis
Under well-settled principles of statutory construction, the Court's analysis must "begin, as always, with the language of the statutory text," and "[i]n the absence of a definition from Congress, [the Court] accord[s] words in a statute their ordinary, contemporary, common meaning." United States v. Midgett ,
2. The Court Faces an Issue of First Impression Within the Fourth Circuit
Neither party identifies any opinion from either the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit or any district court within the Fourth Circuit addressing the relationship between Mendoza-Lopez and the Jurisdiction-Stripping Statute in the context of a prosecution under the Criminal Illegal Reentry Statute. Nor does the Court see such a case. That said, the United States asserts that "[t]he Fourth Circuit has addressed the statutory limitation of jurisdiction question in a highly analogous case concerning a limitation on an appeal right." (Resp. Second Mot. Dismiss 11, ECF No. 31.) In support of this statement, the United States cites to Hall v. I.N.S. ,
The United States' citation to Hall as a "highly analogous case" illuminates its failure to recognize that the constitutional question before the Court is the due process to which criminal defendants are entitled when prosecuted under the Criminal Illegal Reentry Statute. More specifically, Mendoza-Lopez evaluates the due process requirements for prosecuting an alien under the Criminal Illegal Reentry Statute. When such a prosecution relies on a previous expedited removal, as does the prosecution at bar, an element of the prosecution rests on a deportation proceeding that lacked any judicial review whatsoever. The United States' focus on the due process required in the underlying deportation proceeding rather than the due process required in the criminal prosecution at bar is misplaced.
*673For the same reason, the United States' argument that "[t]he majority of courts' holdings, barring habeas jurisdiction to review the validity of expedited removal orders, apply with force here" fails. (Resp. Second Mot. Dismiss 9 (emphasis added).) In the unique context before the Court-in which the United States seeks to impose a criminal sanction based on a "determination made in an administrative proceeding,"-the Constitution requires "some meaningful review of the administrative proceeding," Mendoza-Lopez ,
3. Read Together, the Expedited Removal Statute, the Criminal Illegal Reentry Statute, and the Jurisdiction-Stripping Statute Prohibit Any Review of an Expedited Order of Removal
The Court begins, as it must, with the statutory text, giving the words their ordinary, contemporary meaning. See Midgett ,
First, the Expedited Removal Statute provides that when an immigration officer determines an alien "arriving in the United States" inadmissible under either the Fraudulent Entry Statute or the No Entry Document Statute, that officer "shall order the alien removed from the United States without further hearing or review " unless the alien requests asylum or indicates fear of persecution.
At the same time, the plain language of the Criminal Illegal Reentry Statute allows criminal prosecution of "any alien who ... has been denied admission, excluded, deported, or removed or has departed the United States while an order of exclusion, deportation, or removal is outstanding," and later "enters, attempts to enter, or is at any time found in, the United States."
Indeed, the Jurisdiction-Stripping Statute directly refers to the use of expedited removal orders in prosecutions under the Criminal Illegal Reentry Statute.
In sum, the Jurisdiction-Stripping Statute, when "determined by reference to the language itself, the specific context in which that language is used, and the broader context of the statute as a whole," Robinson ,
Because of this interplay between the statutes, the Jurisdiction-Stripping Statute is unconstitutional to the extent it prohibits "some meaningful review" in a prosecution under the Criminal Illegal Reentry Statute of an alien's claim that an element of the subsequent criminal charge-the underlying deportation proceeding-was "fundamentally unfair." Mendoza-Lopez ,
*6754. Congressional Intent That the Statutes Apply Simultaneously Cannot Override Constitutional Principles
The United States argues, not unconvincingly, that when Congress passed the AEDPA, which included both the Collateral Attack Statute and the Jurisdiction-Stripping Statute, it intentionally distinguished between removal orders issued against aliens already present in the United States, to whom the Collateral Attack Statute applies, and so-called "arriving aliens," to whom the Jurisdictional-Stripping Statute applies. According to the United States, Congress recognized that arriving aliens have fewer due process entitlements than those aliens present in the United States, meaning that Congress intended to-and, according to the United States, appropriately did-prevent arriving aliens subjected to expedited removal from collaterally attacking their orders of removal in any subsequent criminal prosecution.
This is logical, argues the United States, because
[b]oth Mendoza-Lopez and [the Collateral Attack Subsection] make explicit reference to due process violations being a necessary predicate to a collateral attack. Because the arriving defendant had no due process rights at the time of his expedited removal at the border, by definition, he cannot collaterally attack his removal under Mendoza-Lopez , its progeny, and [the Collateral Attack Subsection], Congress, recognizing this, appropriately prohibited such collateral attacks, in [the Jurisdiction-Stripping Statute], barring review of the expedited removal order entered at the border here.
(Resp. Second Mot. Dismiss 8 (emphasis added).)
The United States could well be correct that Congress intended to create one statute governing removals of aliens present in the United States at the time of their apprehension and a separate statute governing removals of arriving aliens. Given the lack of legislative history on the matter, however, the Court declines to attribute motives to Congress without statements or records suggesting one purpose over another. More importantly, even congressional intent to create such a statutory scheme does not necessarily render the statutory scheme constitutional.
The United States' argument first founders for contending that arriving aliens lack due process rights altogether. Although "an alien on the threshold of initial entry stands on a different footing" than an alien present in the country, Shaughnessy v. United States ex rel. Mezei ,
No dispute exists that the Expedited Removal Statute requires some process before an immigration officer may remove an arriving alien pursuant to that statute. See
Second, the United States errs because, under Mendoza-Lopez , in determining whether an alien may collaterally attack a deportation order that forms the basis of a prosecution under the Criminal Illegal Reentry Statute, the relevant due process analysis is the due process accorded a criminal defendant, not the due process to which the alien was entitled at the time of the deportation proceedings. See Mendoza-Lopez ,
Mendoza-Lopez relies on the due process rights to which a criminal defendant is entitled.
III. Villarreal's Collateral Attack Cannot Succeed Because He Fails to Establish that the Deportation Proceeding Resulting in the November 20, 2014 Order of Removal was "Fundamentally Unfair"
Consistent with Mendoza-Lopez , the Court must determine whether the deportation proceedings involved in the November 20, 2014 Order of Removal were "fundamentally unfair." Mendoza-Lopez ,
A. Even Assuming that Villarreal Identifies a Due Process Violation Stemming from the Deportation Proceedings Resulting in the November 20, 2014 Order of Removal, He Cannot Establish that He Suffered Prejudice As a Result
Villarreal argues that the November 20, 2014 deportation proceedings denied him due process in two ways. First, he contends that he was prevented from participating in the expedited removal proceedings after he requested the assistance of counsel. According to Villarreal, "the [immigration] officers told him he had a right (to consult with an attorney during questioning); he invoked that right; and then they denied him the opportunity to respond to the allegations or request withdrawal of application." (Second Mot. Dismiss 18.) Villarreal alternatively contends that his due process rights were violated because he "had a constitutional right to counsel" during the expedited removal proceedings. (Id. at 18.) The United States responds that, because the "relief[ ] defendant ... complains about are entirely discretionary[,] .... they do not rise to the level of due process rights." (Resp. Second Mot. Dismiss 18.) The United States argues that Villarreal had neither the right to participate in the expedited removal process nor the right to counsel in the expedited removal process. According to the United States, Villarreal cannot establish a due process violation, meaning that he fails to establish that the deportation proceedings were fundamentally unfair.
The Court declines to determine whether Villarreal adequately articulates a due process violation because, even assuming that Villarreal had the due process rights he asserts,
B. Villarreal Fails to Show Prejudice Because He Does Not Establish a Reasonable Probability that He Would Not Have Been Deported
In order to demonstrate prejudice resulting from a due process violation in an immigration proceeding, Villarreal must meet Wilson's so-called "reasonable likelihood/but for test;" he must "show 'a reasonable likelihood that but for the errors complained of, the defendant would not have been deported.' " Wilson ,
1. Withdrawal of Application is a Largely Discretionary Procedure
"An alien applying for admission may, in the discretion of the Attorney General and at any time, be permitted to withdraw the application for admission and depart immediately from the United States."
Villarreal contends that before mid-2013, "immigration officers considering whether to allow withdrawal consulted a list of factors in the Customs and Border Protection Inspectors' Field Manual." (Second Mot. Dismiss 16 (citing United States v. Raya-Vaca ,
(1) the seriousness of the immigration violation; (2) previous findings of inadmissibility against the alien; (3) intent on the part of the alien to violate the law; (4) ability to easily overcome the ground of inadmissibility; (5) age or poor health of the alien; and[,] (6) other humanitarian or public interest considerations.
Raya-Vaca ,
These pre-2013 factors weigh heavily against any finding that Villarreal would have been granted withdrawal of application. Indeed, counsel for Villarreal conceded as much at oral argument. Villarreal, however, posits that "Customs and Border Protection have stated in current litigation" that immigration officers no longer rely on the Inspector's Field Manual for guidance on how to exercise their discretion to allow an alien to withdraw his or her application for admission.
2. Villarreal Fails to Establish a Reasonable Probability that He Would Have Been Granted a Withdrawal of Application
In order to determine whether Villarreal has established that he suffered prejudice from his asserted due process denial, the Court must consider whether Villarreal has shown that a reasonable probability exists that he would not have been deported. See Wilson ,
a. Villarreal Does Not Establish that He Would Even Have Requested Withdrawal of Application
As an initial matter, the Court could find that Villarreal fails to meet his burden because he does not establish that he would have even requested withdrawal of application had he not been "denied the opportunity to respond to the allegations" of inadmissibility. (Second Mot. Dismiss 18.) Villarreal submits no evidence-or even argument-that he knew of his ability *680to request withdrawal of his application.
b. Villarreal Improperly Attempts to Rely on the United States' "Failure" in Discovery without Having Filed Any Motion Asserting a Discovery Violation
Villarreal first argues that, because the United States did not provide him with the requested ORT policy manual, the Court "has discretion here under [ Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 16(d)(2)(D)
First, the United States contends that the materials to which Villarreal refers are not in fact discoverable. (Resp. Second Mot. Dismiss 28 n.16.) Villarreal has filed no motion seeking to compel the United States to provide the requested documents. A motion to compel discovery is the proper procedural mechanism through which to argue the merits of Villarreal's contention that the United States has failed to turn over discoverable material. The Court declines to weigh in on a discovery issue improperly presented, as it is, in footnotes of the parties' briefs on the Second Motion to Dismiss. See, e.g. , E.D. Va. Loc. Crim. R. 47(F)(1) ("All motions ... shall be accompanied by a written brief setting forth a concise statement of the facts and supporting reasons, along with a citation of the authorities upon which the movant relies."). And, especially given the multiple opportunities this Court provided Villarreal to address these issues, Villarreal has waived any right to have this discovery matter considered.
More importantly, in the context of the Second Motion to Dismiss, Villarreal bears the burden of establishing prejudice from any purported due process violation. See Wilson ,
*681c. Villarreal Fails to Establish Prejudice Based Even on His Suggested "Realistic Probability" Standard
Perhaps recognizing his difficulty in establishing prejudice under the Fourth Circuit's governing requirement that he "show 'a reasonable likelihood that but for the errors complained of, [he] would not have been deported,' " Wilson ,
But applying the Duenas-Alvarez standard of "realistic probability" to the circumstance before the Court improperly wrenches that standard from its context. In Duenas-Alvarez , the Supreme Court determined whether an alien's conviction (in Duenas-Alvarez , a conviction for aiding and abetting a theft offense) fell within the scope of convictions that subject aliens to removal from the United States. 549 U.S. at 185-86,
to find that a state statute creates a crime outside the generic definition of a listed crime in a federal statute requires more than the application of legal imagination to a state statute's language. It requires a realistic probability, not a theoretical possibility, that the State would apply its statute to conduct that falls outside the generic definition of a crime.
The context in which the Duenas-Alvarez Court defined "realistic probability," does not allow the standard to readily translate to the question before this Court: whether Villarreal would have been granted withdrawal of application and thereby not have been deported. But even assuming that Villarreal's proposed "realistic probability" could replace or substitute for the applicable standard, which requires that Villarreal meet Wilson's "reasonable likelihood/but for test,"
*682Wilson ,
Villarreal attaches to his Motion to Dismiss a one-page document entitled "Withdrawal of Application for Admission/Consular Notification." (Second Mot. Dismiss Ex. 1 at 12, ECF No. 28-1.) According to Villarreal, this document describes a Duenas-Alvarez - qualifying "other case" in which an individual "in an identical position to Mr. Villarreal" was granted withdrawal of application. (Reply Second Mot. Dismiss 1.) The document, dated June 26, 2009, states that the individual "came to the attention of [immigration officials] pursuant to his incarceration with the California City Correctional Center." (Second Mot. Dismiss Ex. 1 at 12.) The individual had been "ordered excluded from the United States" once before. (Id. ) The individual had been convicted of False Statement to a Federal Officer, in violation of
Villarreal cannot establish prejudice based on this single identified grant of withdrawal of application. First, the Court is disinclined to find that Villarreal could establish a reasonable likelihood-or even a realistic probability-by pointing to one single individual who, for unknown reasons, was allowed to withdraw his application five years before Villarreal tried to re-enter the United States. See United States v. Garcia-Gonzalez ,
First, the information before the Court about the individual's criminal history reflects only a single conviction for False Statement to a Federal Officer. As of November 20, 2014, Villarreal had seven criminal convictions: six misdemeanors and one felony. (Stipulation 1-2.) This alone *683places Villarreal in a materially different circumstance than the individual to whom he points. Second, immigration officials became aware of Villarreal's purported comparator because he was incarcerated-again, substantially different from Villarreal, who was apprehended attempting to cross the border with a false passport. Finally, the document includes no information about the individual's ties to the United States, which could prove important in deciding whether to grant withdrawal of application. See, e.g., Raya-Vaca ,
Villarreal also appears to rely on United States v. Raya-Vaca ,
First, unlike the circumstances under which Villarreal entered the United States, the Raya-Vaca court noted, "[f]irst and foremost, Raya-Vaca committed no fraud, let alone obvious or deliberate fraud, when entering the United States."
Given the important differences between the particular circumstances of Villarreal's case and the comparators he identifies, Villarreal cannot establish either a "realistic probability," Duenas-Alvarez , 549 U.S. at 193,
IV. Conclusion
For the reasons stated above, the Court will deny Villarreal's Second Motion to *684Dismiss the Indictment. (ECF No. 28.) An appropriate order will issue.
It is so ORDERED.
The parties also presented a two-page document containing factual stipulations about Villarreal's background, criminal record, and deportation history. (ECF No. 34.)
At the time of the November 20, 2014 Order of Removal, Villarreal's criminal history consisted of six misdemeanor convictions and one felony conviction.
Section 1225(b)(1), the Expedited Removal Statute, provides that when an alien arriving in the United States seeks admission to the United States, but either lacks the necessary entry documents, misrepresents his or her citizenship, or presents fraudulent entry documents, he or she shall be removed without further hearing or review.
The Expedited Removal Statute does not apply to aliens from certain countries in the Western Hemisphere,
Section 212(a)(6)(C), codified at
Section 212(a)(7)(A)(i)(I), codified at
Section 1326(a), the Criminal Illegal Reentry Statute, makes it a crime for any alien "who has been denied admission, excluded, deported, or removed or has departed the United States while an order of exclusion, deportation, or removal is outstanding" to subsequently enter, attempt to enter, or at any time be found in the United States without advance permission from the Attorney General.
The Indictment in this case also alleges that Villareal violated
Section 1326(d), the Collateral Attack Subsection, limits collateral attacks in the context of a prosecution under the Criminal Illegal Reentry Statute by requiring the alien to meet three criteria.
Section 1225(b)(1)(D), the Jurisdiction-Stripping Statute, provides, as relevant here, that in a criminal prosecution under the Criminal Illegal Reentry Statute, the court "shall not have jurisdiction to hear" any collateral attack of an order of removal entered under the Expedited Removal Statute.
The Indictment does not specify on which removal the instant charge is premised. The United States need only prove that Villarreal has had one prior removal to meet its burden under the Criminal Illegal Reentry Statute. The United States repeatedly has represented that the instant prosecution is premised only on the November 20, 2014 Order of Removal, and Villarreal conceded at oral argument on February 15, 2018, that he only seeks to challenge the November 20, 2014 Order of Removal.
Aside from the parties' agreement, the United States' repeated, clear, and unambiguous statement that it premises Villarreal's prosecution under the Criminal Illegal Reentry Statute only on the November 20, 2014 Order of Removal constitutes a judicial admission, which limits the United States to relying only on the November 20, 2014 Order of Removal for this prosecution. See, e.g., Meyer v. Berkshire Life Ins. Co. ,
Nine years after Mendoza-Lopez , Congress passed the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 ("AEDPA"), and changed the language of parts of the Criminal Illegal Reentry Statute. See Pub. L. 104-132 § 441 (codified at
Neither party asserts that Villarreal proceeded, attempted to proceed, or would have qualified under any of these exceptions.
Hall considers an alien's appeal of his final order of deportation.
Hall's appeal of his deportation order stands in juxtaposition to Villarreal's collateral attack of his deportation order in the context of a criminal prosecution. Villarreal seeks to collaterally attack "a determination made in an administrative proceeding [that] is to play a critical role in the subsequent imposition of a criminal sanction." Mendoza-Lopez ,
Given the Jurisdiction-Stripping Statute's clear and unambiguous language, the statute is not reasonably susceptible to more than one construction. For this reason, Villarreal's argument that the Court should apply the doctrine of constitutional avoidance and construe the Jurisdiction-Stripping Statute as "preclud[ing] the use of expedited removals as predicates for a prosecution under [the Criminal Illegal Reentry Statute]," (Second Mot. Dismiss 4, ECF No. 28), fails.
The canon of constitutional avoidance " 'comes into play only when, after the application of ordinary textual analysis, the statute is found to be susceptible of more than one construction.' " Jennings v. Rodriguez , --- U.S. ----,
The plain language of the Jurisdiction-Stripping Statute precludes application of the constitutional avoidance doctrine in the manner Villarreal urges. Moreover, the language precluding collateral attack would be superfluous if a prosecution under the Criminal Illegal Reentry Statute could not be premised on an expedited removal order. The Court will not interpret the statute in a way that makes some of its language unnecessary, see, e.g., Bowsher v. Merck & Co. ,
Because both the Criminal Illegal Reentry Statute and the Jurisdiction-Stripping Statute directly contemplate prosecution under the Criminal Illegal Reentry Statute based on a previous removal under the Expedited Removal Statute, the Jurisdiction-Stripping Statute is not reasonably susceptible to more than one construction. The doctrine of constitutional avoidance cannot apply.
For this reason, the United States focuses on the wrong proceeding when it argues that, "[b]ecause the arriving defendant had no due process rights at the time of his expedited removal at the border, by definition, he cannot collaterally attack his removal under Mendoza-Lopez , its progeny, and [the Collateral Attack Subsection]." (Resp. Second Mot. Dismiss 8.) By concentrating on the due process rights Villarreal had "at the time of his expedited removal at the border," (id. ), the United States neglects the criminal context of the proceeding before the Court.
Although the Collateral Attack Subsection generally governs a court's analysis of collateral attacks in the context of a prosecution under the Criminal Illegal Reentry Statute, because the Jurisdiction-Stripping Statute explicitly bars application of the Collateral Attack Subsection to removals pursuant to the Expedited Removal Statute, the Collateral Attack Subsection does not govern the Court's review of the November 20, 2014 Order of Removal. Mendoza-Lopez' s "fundamentally unfair" standard guides the Court's analysis.
The Court notes that binding Fourth Circuit law holds that "because removal proceedings are not criminal proceedings, aliens facing removal are not entitled to the Sixth Amendment's right to counsel, nor to the associated right to effective counsel." Afanwi v. Mukasey ,
At oral argument, counsel for Villarreal clarified that he intended to rest his right-to-counsel argument on Villarreal's right to counsel in his criminal prosecution, initiated soon after the November 20, 2014 Order of Removal was entered. Counsel clarified his assertion that Villarreal, when requesting the presence of counsel before answering the questions the immigration officers asked, sought to invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in that criminal proceeding. This explanation does not change the Court's analysis.
Although declining to decide whether a Fifth Amendment right to counsel exists in the context of immigration proceedings, or whether the possibility of subsequent prosecution based on statements made in an immigration proceeding confers such a right, the Court notes that the Fourth Circuit has expressly held "there is no Fifth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel during the course of removal proceedings." Cruz v. Holder ,
Both parties agree that withdrawal of application is the only relief Villarreal could have received that would have prevented him from being deported.
Villarreal contends that Customs and Border Protection (the "CBP") " 'has endeavored to develop a new manual, the Officers['] Reference Tool (ORT),' " which is " 'a centralized online repository for CBP's admissibility policies and serves as a comprehensive "how to" manual detailing official CBP policies and procedures for CBP's admissibility mission.' " (Second Mot. Dismiss 16-17 (quoting Hutton Decl. ¶ 5, ECF No. 16-2, Am. Immigration Lawyers' Assoc. v. United States Dep't Homeland Sec. (AILA) , No. 1:16cv2470 (D.D.C. filed Dec. 19, 2016).) He further asserts that, because these policies are "directly relevant to whether there is a reasonable probability that [Villarreal] would have been granted such relief," counsel for Villarreal requested in discovery these policies from the United States, but never received a copy. (Id. at 17 n.3.)
The United States counters that the requested policy manual is not subject to discovery under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 16(a)(1)(E). (Resp. Second Mot. Dismiss 28 n.16.) Rule 16(a)(1)(E) requires in relevant part that the United States must provide an item to the defendant if the item is "within the government's possession, custody, or control and: (i) the item is material to preparing the defense; (ii) the government intends to use the item in its casein-chief at trial; or[,] (iii) the item was obtained from or belongs to the defendant." Fed. R. Crim. P. 16(a)(1)(E). " '[E]vidence is material as long as there is a strong indication that it will play an important role in uncovering admissible evidence, aiding witness preparation, corroborating testimony, or assisting impeachment or rebuttal.' " United States v. Caro ,
Villarreal creatively sidesteps this failure by asserting that the immigration officers "denied him the opportunity to ... request withdrawal of application," (Second Mot. Dismiss 18), and then arguing that the relevant prejudice analysis is "whether a request to withdraw admission with the assistance of counsel would have succeeded," (id. at 24 (emphasis added) ). However, Villarreal does not even assert-much less establish-that, had he been allowed "the opportunity to respond to the allegations," (id. at 18), he would even have requested , much less been granted withdrawal of application.
Rule 16(d)(2)(D) provides in relevant part: "If a party fails to comply with [Rule 16 ], the court may:... enter any ... order that is just under the circumstances." Fed. R. Crim. P. 16(d)(2)(D).
The Court assumes this equivalence for purposes of the Second Motion to Dismiss, but notes that the "realistic probability" seems to be a lower standard than the requisite reasonable likelihood. Duenas-Alvarez explicitly contrasts "realistic probability" with "legal imagination" and "theoretical possibility." 549 U.S. at 193,
The Court also notes that this individual apparently was allowed to withdraw his application in 2009 when the Inspector's Field Manual guided immigration officers' decisions about when to grant withdrawal of application. See, e.g., Barajas-Alvarado ,
Because Raya-Vaca's expedited removal was ordered in 2012, the Raya-Vaca court also analyzed the plausibility of Raya-Vaca being granted withdrawal of application by reference to the Inspector's Field Manual-the manual that Villarreal contends no longer guides immigration officers' exercise of discretion or this Court's analysis of prejudice.
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