Source: http://openjurist.org/print/490582
Timestamp: 2013-12-09 15:14:18
Document Index: 2547834

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 274', '§ 1324', '§ 274', '§ 274', '§ 274', '§ 274', '§ 274', '§ 274']

145 F3d 1032 Walters v. Reno
145 F.3d 1032
98 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 3748, 98 Daily JournalD.A.R. 5164Maria WALTERS; William Walters; Cesar Corona-Alvarez;Antonio Alvarez; Ninfa de Adames, Guadalupe Adames, husbandand wife; Camila Garcia-Cruz; Omar Kayyam Meziab, LeslieMeziab, husband and wife, on behalf of themselves and allothers similarly situated, Plaintiffs-Appellees,v.Janet RENO, Attorney General of the United States; Doris M.Meissner, Commissioner of the United States Immigration andNaturalization Service; United States Immigration andNaturalization Service, Defendants-Appellants.
No. 96-36304.
Argued and Submitted July 14, 1997.Decided May 18, 1998.
Karen Fletcher Torstenson, Asst. U.S. Atty., Washington, DC, for defendants-appellants.
Linton Joaquin, Los Angeles, CA, for plaintiffs-appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington; John C. Coughenour, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. C94-1204C.
Before: GOODWIN and REINHARDT, Circuit Judges, and KING, Senior District Judge.*
The Attorney General of the United States and other parts of the U.S. government (collectively, "the government") appeal from the district court's determination that certain administrative procedures employed by the Immigration and Naturalization Service ("INS") violated the constitutional requirements of due process. The government also appeals the district court's certification of the plaintiff class and the court's entry of permanent injunctive relief. We agree with the district court that the nationwide procedures by which the INS obtained waivers in document fraud cases violated the aliens' rights to due process of law. We also agree that certification of plaintiffs as a class under Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(b)(2) was appropriate. And although we modify one of the provisions in the injunction, we uphold its principal terms.
The plaintiffs brought suit against the government on behalf of themselves and similarly situated noncitizens, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief on the ground that the administrative procedures used by the INS to obtain final orders under the document fraud provisions of the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1990 ("INA" or "the Act") violated their rights to procedural due process. Under § 274C of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1324c, the INS may issue an unappealable final order against an alien who has been accused of document fraud if the alien does not request a hearing in writing within 60 days of receiving the notice of intent to fine ("the fine notice") and the notice of rights/waiver ("the rights/waiver notice") forms. Such an order renders the alien deportable and permanently excludable. Deportation is automatic, except in narrowly limited circumstances. If the alien signs a statement waiving his rights with respect to the document fraud charges, including his right to a hearing, the INS will immediately issue an unappealable final order assessing a fine and requiring the alien to cease and desist from his wrongful conduct, but the ultimate result that ordinarily will follow soon thereafter will be the issuance of an order of deportation.
In their complaint, the plaintiffs contend that despite the dramatic immigration consequences for those charged with violating the document fraud provisions of the INA, the forms served on aliens in connection with these charges are dense and written in complex, legal language. The plaintiffs allege that on account of the confusing nature of the forms, aliens in document fraud proceedings are not adequately informed of the steps they must take in order to contest the charges brought against them and thus do not learn how to obtain a hearing on them. Moreover, they allege, they do not learn the true consequences of failing to request that hearing. They also challenge the general procedures by which the forms are presented to them. The plaintiffs moved to certify a class of approximately 4,000 aliens who had been or were subject to final orders, and moved for the entry of a preliminary injunction, summary judgment, a permanent injunction, and an order requiring the INS to reopen each plaintiff's document fraud case and provide hearings if necessary.
In March 1996, Judge Coughenour certified the plaintiffs as a class with the following characteristics:
All non-citizens who have or will become subject to a final order under § 274C of the Immigration and Naturalization Act because they received notice forms that did not adequately advise them of their rights, of the consequences of waiving their rights or of the consequences of failing to request a hearing.
Under the district court's order, an individual alien can establish his status as a class member by attesting that he did not understand either his rights in the document fraud proceedings or the consequences of waiving his rights. In the same order, Judge Coughenour ruled on summary judgment that the procedures and forms used by the INS in document fraud cases are unconstitutional because they deny aliens their rights to due process of law. The court also granted permanent injunctive relief; the terms of the injunction were to be decided after the parties submitted proposals to the court.
In October 1996, Judge Coughenour entered final judgment in favor of the plaintiffs and granted a permanent injunction requiring the INS to take a variety of actions to remedy the constitutional violations. According to the terms of the injunction, the INS must: (1) revise the two misleading forms (the fine notice and the rights/waiver notice); (2) send notice to possible class members at their last known addresses, and, through a publicity campaign that must include specific attempts to contact all class members inside and outside of the country, publicize the opportunity for class members to reopen their document fraud proceedings; (3) refrain from deporting noncitizens on the basis of § 274C final orders that were entered without a hearing until class members have the opportunity to pursue reopening procedures; (4) reopen § 274C proceedings for each class member who was subject to a § 274C final order, unless the government can show that alien received adequate notice; (5) parole or make other arrangements for class members outside the United States to pursue reopened proceedings; and (6) recharge any alien charged with deficient forms who failed to request a hearing but has not yet been subjected to a final order, unless the government can show that the alien received adequate notice.
In its order certifying the class and finding due process violations, the district court did not resolve all of the claims raised by the plaintiffs. However, after the government moved for summary judgment in its favor on the remaining claims,1 the district court stated in its order for a permanent injunction that "there is no reason to rule on the alternate grounds for that relief represented by the three issues defendants ask the Court to decide." The district court dismissed without prejudice the leftover claims.
The government challenges the district court's factual findings and legal conclusions in toto.
Although there is no question that the United States has extraordinarily broad powers in the area of immigration and border control, it is also well established that aliens facing deportation from this country are entitled to due process rights under the Fifth Amendment. Mathews v. Diaz, 426 U.S. 67, 77, 96 S.Ct. 1883, 48 L.Ed.2d 478 (1976). As the Supreme Court has explained on a number of occasions, "once [an] alien gains admission to our country and begins to develop the ties that go with permanent residence his constitutional status changes accordingly." Landon v. Plasencia, 459 U.S. 21, 32, 103 S.Ct. 321, 74 L.Ed.2d 21 (1982). Thus, the government is not free to deport an alien from the United States unless it has first accorded him the most basic procedural protections--notice and a hearing at a meaningful time and in a meaningful manner. Id. at 32-33, 103 S.Ct. 321.2 The plaintiffs assert that the INS regularly violates these constitutional precepts in the context of document fraud proceedings.
At the heart of this case is the plaintiffs' allegation that the procedures by which INS agents procured waivers of the right to a hearing in document fraud proceedings were constitutionally deficient because the forms used in connection with these proceedings did not adequately inform aliens of their right to a hearing or of the drastic immigration consequences that would ensue if the alien failed to request a hearing. As a result, the aliens' waivers were not made knowingly and voluntarily. These procedures, the plaintiffs contend, have been employed nationwide by the INS in virtually every case in which the government has charged an alien with committing document fraud.
An alien who is alleged to have committed civil document fraud in violation of § 274C learns of the charges against him by means of several INS forms that are served upon him. Two forms--the fine notice and the rights/waiver notice--are served simultaneously. Because aliens who commit civil document fraud are subject to immediate deportation, they also receive another form, an Order to Show Cause ("OSC") regarding deportation. The OSC is frequently served at the same time as the initial two forms.
The fine notice, which is written in English, informs the alien of the specific charge against him and states that he will be fined and ordered to cease and desist from the prohibited activity as a consequence of the charge. This form also notifies the alien that he may request a hearing to contest the charge. With respect to the hearing, the fine notice states:
If a written request for a hearing is not timely filed, the Service will issue a final and unappealable order directing you to pay a fine in the amount specified in this Notice and to cease and desist from such violation(s).
Notwithstanding the notice's statement that the failure to file a request for a hearing will result in a final order imposing a fine and a cease and desist requirement, the notice does not explain or even mention the severe immigration consequences that will ordinarily result if the alien fails to request a hearing--specifically, the high probability that the alien will be deported immediately. Nor does it advise the alien that document fraud constitutes a deportable offense and that he will not be able to contest the charge at his deportation hearing.
The rights/waiver notice is a very dense form. It is divided roughly into thirds. In the top third, it lists the various rights to which the alien is entitled in the context of document fraud proceedings, such as the right to be represented by an attorney and the right to file a written request for a hearing. Buried in the middle third of the form, just above a line on which the INS official signs his name to indicate personal service, is a statement that an alien who is subject to a final order under § 274C "will be excludable pursuant to Section (a)(6)(F) of the Act and deportable pursuant to Section 241(a)(3)(C) of the Act." In the bottom third of the notice, the INS provides a section in which the alien may waive his right to a hearing and admit that he engaged in document fraud. The acknowledgement reads:
I acknowledge that I have (read) (had interpreted and explained to me in the _____ language) and understand the contents of this document, a copy of which I have received. I further understand that I waive the right to request a hearing before an administrative law judge and agree to pay the penalty amount, as specified in the Final Order. I understand that this waiver shall result in the entry of a Final Order for a violation of Section 274C of the Act, from which there is no appeal.
The acknowledgement does not state that the alien understands that by waiving his right to a hearing as to the document fraud charges he also waives his right to challenge his deportability and excludability on that account, and he will in most instances be permanently barred from re-entering the country. The acknowledgement only asks the alien to acknowledge that he is agreeing to pay a fine and that an order will be issued "for a violation of Section 274C of the Act." It does not ask him to acknowledge that he is consenting to his deportability and that the deportation hearing he will receive will in most instances be rendered meaningless. Further, neither the fine notice nor the rights/waiver notice provides a form the alien can use to request a hearing on the charges of document fraud.
In addition to these two forms, aliens charged with civil document fraud are also served with an OSC regarding deportation. As noted above, the OSC is frequently served simultaneously with the fine notice and the rights/waiver notice. The OSC is five pages long, and, unlike the fine notice and the rights/waiver notice, which are written in English only, the OSC is written in both English and Spanish. Often, a warrant authorizing the arrest of the alien, also translated into Spanish, is attached to the OSC.
The first page of the OSC notifies the recipient that deportation proceedings are pending against him and informs him of the specific allegations with respect to his deportability. Sometimes the allegations refer to the document fraud, which is the subject of the accompanying documents. Sometimes they charge only illegal entry or some similar offense. OSCs in the second category may then be amended to charge the document fraud directly. The second page explains the purpose of the notice as follows:
This notice identifies your rights as an alien in deportation proceedings, and your obligations and the conditions with which you must comply in order to protect your eligibility to be considered for certain benefits.
It further explains that a hearing will be scheduled "no sooner than 14 days from the date [the alien] was served with [the OSC]" and that at this hearing, the alien "will be given the opportunity to admit or deny any or all of the allegations in this Order to Show Cause, and whether [he is] deportable on the charges set forth [in the order]." It does not, however, advise an alien who has been charged in the OSC with document fraud that unless he requests a separate hearing on those charges, he will not be able to contest them at the deportation hearing, and that he will not be able to contest his deportability or excludability at any time thereafter. Nor does it tell him that in order to obtain the separate hearing on the document fraud charges, he must file a separate written request, unlike in the case of the deportation hearing, which, he is told, he will receive automatically. It also does not advise those aliens who are charged with offenses other than document fraud that the document fraud charges, which were contained in the other forms that were simultaneously served on him, or were served on him during the same general time period, cannot be contested at the deportation hearing. Finally, it does not provide the alien with any form that will enable him to request the separate hearing that is required on the document fraud charges.
On the third page, the OSC identifies the specific provision of the INA under which he is subject to deportation and explains that the INS will mail under separate cover a notice regarding the date of the deportation hearing. The fourth page describes in detail the sequence of events that will follow if the alien fails to appear at the deportation hearing. The fifth and final page contains a Certificate of Translation and Oral Notice, in which the alien may verify that the OSC was read to him in Spanish.
In sum, an alien charged with civil document fraud receives three forms advising him of two hearings. One hearing, he is told--the hearing on the document fraud charges, the consequence for which is stated to be a fine and a cease and desist order--will be held only if the alien submits a written request. The other hearing, the alien is advised--the hearing on the far graver issue whether he will be deported--will be held automatically, without the need for him to do anything. He is also told that at that hearing he will be able to respond to the allegations that constitute the basis for the threatened deportation. None of the forms advises the alien that if he fails to request a separate hearing on the document fraud charges, the deportation hearing he receives will ordinarily be meaningless, that he will be found deportable and excludable on the ground of document fraud without any further opportunity to challenge that determination, and that his deportation will in most instances be virtually automatic.
As a threshold matter, we must determine whether the district court's grant of summary judgment was proper. In reviewing that decision, we view the evidence presented in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. We look first at the facts upon which the district court relied and examine the government's contention that material facts were in dispute. We then consider the government's argument that the district court's legal analysis is flawed.
The district court concluded that the plaintiffs were entitled to summary judgment because the INS procedures for securing waivers of a hearing on document fraud charges create an unacceptable risk of confusion likely to result in erroneous deportation. Specifically, the district court found that the following factors caused many aliens to misapprehend the consequences of the failure to seek a hearing on the document fraud charges.
First, the district court found that because the forms are written in complex and legalistic language, they "fail to indicate in clear, simple terms that a document fraud final order leads to immediate deportation with almost no chance of readmission." In reaching its conclusion that the members of the plaintiff class were unable to understand the import of the fine notice and rights/waiver notice forms, the district court relied on statistical evidence to show that noncitizens generally do not understand that when they sign the rights/waiver form, they are waiving their right to contest the document fraud charges. Additionally, the district court relied on specific testimony by class members who testified that when they signed the waivers, they did not fully understand that they were relinquishing their right to be heard on the document fraud charges; rather, they believed that they could still contest the document fraud charges at their deportation hearing.
Further, the district court found that class members who signed waivers did not understand the severe immigration consequences attendant on the document fraud charges. Specifically, they did not understand that by relinquishing their right to a hearing as to the document fraud charges, they were effectively relinquishing their right to contest their deportability or excludability. In its order granting summary judgment, the district court stated that "[m]ost, if not all, of the aliens who testified stated that they did not understand the forms, and did not realize that they faced permanent exclusion." Indeed, the district court observed that the forms are so obscure and confusing with respect to this point that even some of the INS agents who administer them are unable to explain adequately the immigration consequences of a final order on document fraud charges. According to the district court, the agents' ignorance not only demonstrates that the forms themselves are inadequate, but also shows that the agents are incapable of remedying the insufficiency of the forms by providing an explanation to the aliens.
Next, the district court noted that the impenetrable and confusing nature of the forms was heightened in the specific context in which they were used. Given that most recipients of the forms are noncitizen immigrants whose primary language is one other than English, the court concluded there is very little chance that they, in particular, would be able to plow through the legalistic language in order to figure out what steps to take so as to contest their deportation.
Additionally, the district court determined that the English-only waiver forms, which explain the document fraud hearings, are frequently presented at the same time as the OSCs regarding deportation. Unlike the fine notice and the rights/waiver notice, which are presented in English only, the OSCs are presented in English with a Spanish translation after each line or with a Spanish translation set forth in parallel columns. The simultaneous presentation of these forms is significant because they all refer to integrally related matters. The district court concluded that because the OSCs are written in both English and Spanish but the fine notice and rights/waiver notice forms are not, an alien who receives all of the forms is likely to believe that the OSC is of greater importance than the other two.
Finally, Judge Coughenour concluded that the language of the OSC is likely to give the alien the impression that in order to challenge the document fraud charge he need only appear at the deportation hearing. In other words, the OSC would lead an alien to believe that it is