### IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

No. 16

- 30470

IVAN ALEXANDROVICH VETCHER,

Petitioner

- Appellant

v. WILLIAM P. BARR, U. S. ATTORNEY GENERAL; CHAD F. WOLF, ACTING SECRETARY, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY; GEORGE H. LUND, Director of New Orleans Field Office; DAVID COLE, Warden, LaSalle Detention Center , Respondents

- Appellees

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana USDC No. 1:15

- CV

- 1653

Before KING, SOUTHWICK, and HO, Circuit Judges

. PER CURIAM: * Ivan Vetcher was placed in immigr ation detention in July 2014. In the midst of his multiple administrative appeals and petitions for review, he filed a petition for habeas corpus seeking release from custody during the time that his removal proceedings were continuing. His r elief denied, Vetcher appealed

* Pursuant to 5 TH C IR . R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5 TH C IR . R. 47.5.4. United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit 

### FILED June 15, 2 020 Lyle W. Cayce Clerk Case: 16-30470 Document: 00515452173 Page: 1 Date Filed: 06/15/2020No. 16

- 30470

2 here. Much has happened si nce that initial appeal, but it is clear his claims

are now moot. We DISMISS. Vetcher left Belarus in 2001 and entered the United States as an 11

- year
- old refugee. I n 2005 , he became a lawful permanent resident. In April
2014 , he pled guilty to delivery of more than four but less than four

- hundred grams of hallucinogenic mushrooms, a violation of Section 481.113(d) of t he Texas Health & Safety Code. He received a ten

- year suspended sentence. Three months after the Texas judgment of conviction was ente red, the Government issued Vetcher a Notice to Appear before an immigration judge , stating Vetcher w as removable as an alien “convicted of an aggravated felony,”
a term that include s “illicit trafficking in a controlled substance.” 8 U.S.C. §§ 1101(a)(43)(B), 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii)

. 1 The Government detained him under the authority of a statute to “take into custody any alien who .

. . is deportable ” under the aggravated felon provision the Government applied to Vetcher. § 1226(c). T he immigration judge ordered his removal. T he Board of Immigration Appeals ( “ BIA ” ) agreed and issued a final administrative order to

remove Vetcher to Belarus o n December 22, 2014. Seven months later, the BIA granted Vetcher’s motion to reopen and the case was remanded for additional proceedings. His detention , though, continued. Vetcher has appeared several times in this court following new BIA decision s

. See Vetcher v. Lynch , No. 15

- 60047 (5th Cir. Sept. 9, 2015); Vetcher v. Sessions , No. 17

- 60215 ( 5th Cir. May 26, 2017)

. Vetcher’s most recent petition for review sought cancellation of the BIA’s final order of removal o n May 11, 2018. On March 19, 2020, this court denied Ve tcher’s petition for

1 The Government changed its theory of Vetcher’s deportability in September 2015 and no longer charges him under Section 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii); the charge is now under Section 1227(a)(2)(B)(i). Case: 16-30470 Document: 00515452173 Page: 2 Date Filed: 06/15/2020No. 16

- 30470

3 review of the removal order

. See Vetcher v. Barr , 953 F.3d 361 (5th Cir. 2020 ). The petition for rehearing was denied, and the mandate has issued. The case before us commenced on May 7, 2015, when Vetcher filed an application under 28 U.S.C. Section 2241 in the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana

. He sought a bond hearing and , more generally , release from detention while his removal proceedings were continuing. At the time he filed this suit, his detention was authorized by a
statute that permits detention of those who do not have a final order of removal. See 8 U.S.C. § 1226(c). On September 2, 2015, an immigrati on judge denied bond . T he district court dismissed the application on March 22, 2016, both on the basis of mootness as to ordering a bond hearing and for lack of jurisdiction to review his detention . Vetcher appealed. Vetcher’s detention under th e author ity of Section 1226(c) has been the focus of the arguments in this appeal

. That authorization ended when he became subject to an administratively final removal order , namely the May 11, 2018 BIA decision. The authority for his detention then shifted to 8 U.S.C. Section 1231

. See Andrade v. Gonzalez , 459 F.3d 538, 542

– 43 (5th Cir. 2006). On June 18, 2018, Vetcher sought a stay of removal in his separate appeal from the BIA’s final order. That motion was d enied on July 2, 2018. The record does not indicate when Vetcher was removed, but the Government informed us that the removal order was carried out. On May 25, 2018, the Government filed a motion to dismiss this appeal as moot, as the petitioner’s argum ents were now inapplicable to his new status. Vetcher opposed, arguing that because he continued to contest the validity of the order of removal , he might again fall under the detention authority of Section 1226(c) . W e deferred ruling on the motion to di smiss

. Now that Vetcher’s removal order has been upheld by another panel of this court , w e DISMISS the appeal as moot

. Case: 16-30470 Document: 00515452173 Page: 3 Date Filed: 06/15/2020