Source: http://ny.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.19830422_0040338.C02.htm/qx
Timestamp: 2017-02-22 06:33:04
Document Index: 130198547

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 2412', '§ 2412', '§ 2412', '§ 2412', '§ 2412', '§ 2412']

| JOHN OGUACHUBA v. IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE AND DALE THOMAS (04/22/83)
JOHN OGUACHUBA v. IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE AND DALE THOMAS (04/22/83)
JOHN OGUACHUBA, PETITIONER-APPELLANT,v.IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE AND DALE THOMAS, WARDEN OF THE METROPOLITAN CORRECTIONAL CENTER, RESPONDENTS-APPELLEES
Appeal from a decision and order of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Griesa, Judge) denying an application for attorney's fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2412 (Supp. V 1981).
John Oguachuba appeals from Judge Thomas P. Griesa's denial of an application for attorney's fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act ("EAJA"), 28 U.S.C. § 2412 (Supp. V 1981). The application followed a grant of Oguachuba's petition for the writ of habeas corpus, Oguachuba v. INS, 82 Civ. 0073 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 28, 1982). On appeal, Oguachuba and amicus curiae, the American Immigration Lawyer's Association, contend that Oguachuba's conceded history of misconduct did not constitute a "special circumstance" for which attorneys' fees may be denied within the meaning of the EAJA, 28 U.S.C. §§ 2412(d)(1)(A) and (2), and that the government's opposition to Oguachuba's petition for the writ was not "substantially justified" under 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d)(1)(A). In addition, both Oguachuba and amicus claim that the government's opposition to his petition was in bad faith and that attorneys' fees should be awarded under the "bad faith" exception, which permits an award in circumstances in which the common law would have permitted an award against a private party. 28 U.S.C. § 2412(b).
Because we agree with Judge Griesa that Oguachuba's persistent flouting of United States immigration law constituted "special circumstances mak[ing] an award [of attorneys' fees] unjust," 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d)(1)(A), we need not reach the question of whether the government's position in opposing the petition for a writ of habeas corpus was substantially justified. We also reject as waived Oguachuba's argument that the government proceeded in bad faith.
Oguachuba's extraordinary persistence in evading the lawful efforts of the INS to deport him to Nigeria, his flagrant contempt for United States law and the fact that his own decision not to acquiesce in deportation caused his incarceration constitute the "special circumstances" which make it inequitable to award him attorneys' fees under the EAJA. Regrettably, Mr. Oguachuba's exploits must be recounted at some length.
Oguachuba is a Nigerian citizen*fn1 who entered the United States on February 5, 1975 under a non-immigrant student visa. He attended Spring Arbor College in Spring Arbor, Michigan, until May 1976, when he was dismissed on disciplinary grounds. Oguachuba then transferred to the University of Michigan but soon left during the Spring 1977 semester due to failing grades. The ease with which these academic institutions obtained his departure from their premises sharply contrasts with the difficulties encountered by the INS in obtaining his permanent exit from the United States.
On February 6, 1978, two days after Oguachuba's student visa expired, someone claiming to be Zannie Lee Wesley Oguachuba presented herself at INS offices and sought to have Oguachuba classified as her spouse so he might obtain an immigrant visa. She failed, however, to follow through and INS administrative procedures extinguished her request on September 23, 1978.*fn2 On February 10, 1978, despite his non-student status, Oguachuba requested and received an extension of his student visa until February 4, 1979. However, he did not leave the country on that date, nor apparently did he seek further extensions of his visa.
Eighteen months later, the INS caught up with Oguachuba in Pittsburg, California, following his arrest on a traffic warrant. On June 24, 1981, with Oguachuba in INS custody, the Service contacted the Nigerian consulate in San Francisco to obtain the travel documents. The next day, that consulate provided the necessary papers. On July 2, 1981, Oguachuba was escorted to Kennedy International Airport by INS agents and placed on a flight to Nigeria.
Three days later, Oguachuba reappeared at Kennedy Airport, first seeking readmission to the United States as a citizen and then asserting he was a citizen or resident of Liberia who was eligible for United States citizenship but who had lost both his luggage and Liberian passport. The precise method leading to his return is obscure, but it seems probable that, after destroying his travel documents while on the airplane, he told Nigerian officials that he was a Liberian national who had lost his travel documents. The Nigerian customs agents then shunted him to Liberia, where he told officials he was an American citizen who had lost his travel documents. Liberian officials then refused Oguachuba admission to their country and returned him to the United ...