Source: http://ca10.washburnlaw.edu/cases/2003/07/02-9513a.htm
Timestamp: 2019-01-18 12:26:13
Document Index: 5553710

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1255', '§ 245', '§ 1255', '§ 245', '§ 1252', '§ 242', '§ 2241', '§ 1631', '§ 1255', '§ 245', '§ 1252', '§ 1252', '§ 1252', '§ 242', '§ 1631', '§ 1252']

02-9513a -- Duran-Hernandez v. Ashcroft -- 07/21/2003
| Keyword | Case | Docket | Date: Filed / Added | (33020 bytes) (26750 bytes)
RAMON DURAN-HERNANDEZ,
JOHN ASHCROFT, United States Attorney General; MICHAEL HESTON, District Director, Immigration and Naturalization Service ("INS"); and JAMES W. ZIGLAR, Commissioner, INS,
Respondents. No. 02-9513
Respondent's motion for publication of this court's order and judgment filed on July 21, 2003 is granted. A copy of the published opinion is attached.
Petition for Habeas Corpus Pursuant to an Order of Transfer Issued by the United States District Court
(D.C. No. 01-3488-RDR)
James S. Phillips, Jr., Phillips & Phillips, Chartered, Wichita, Kansas, for Petitioner.
Cindy S. Ferrier, Office of Immigration Litigation, Civil Division (Linda S. Wendtland, Assistant Director, with her on the brief), United States Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., for Respondents.
Petitioner Ramon Duran-Hernandez (hereinafter "Duran"), a Mexican citizen, was ordered removed from the United States in 1998 after he falsely claimed United States citizenship at the U.S.­Mexico border. He was barred from reentering the country for five years. Only two years later, however, Duran reentered the United States illegally and thereafter applied for adjustment of his immigration status. The Immigration and Naturalization Service rejected his application and reinstated his prior removal order.
On April 12, 1998, Mexican national Ramon Duran-Hernandez was caught attempting to enter the United States illegally with his American citizen wife at the Presidio, Texas, Point of Entry. Later that day, in a signed, sworn statement to an INS officer, Duran admitted that he was not a U.S. citizen and that both he and his wife had falsely claimed that he was a U.S. citizen when they tried to cross the border that morning. Duran admitted knowing that it was a crime to falsely claim U.S. citizenship. Duran also admitted to having lived illegally in the United States for 10 years prior to his reentry attempt and to having been previously ordered deported in 1997.
On April 13, 2001, Duran applied (through his wife) for adjustment of status based on his 1997 marriage to an American citizen, under 8 U.S.C. § 1255(i), INA § 245(i).(1) Eight months later, on December 18, 2001, the INS denied Duran's application. To be eligible for adjustment of status, an alien must be "admissible to the United States for permanent residence." 8 U.S.C. § 1255(i)(2)(A), INA § 245(i)(2)(A). Because Duran had reentered the United States within the five-year ban and without first applying to the Attorney General for permission, the INS found that Duran was not "admissible to the United States for permanent residence" and therefore was ineligible to have his status adjusted. The INS also noted that Duran had admitted to having illegally entered the United States ten years before his 1998 attempt.
On December 31, 2001, Duran filed (through counsel) a habeas corpus petition with the United States District Court for the District of Kansas. First, he challenged the constitutionality of the INA's reinstatement provisions as violative of his due process rights. Second, he challenged the INS's purported failure to pursue his application for adjustment of status before reinstating the prior removal order. A magistrate judge recommended that the case be transferred to the Court of Appeals, because "reinstatement is actually the enforcement of a prior final removal order," over which the Court of Appeals has exclusive jurisdiction. Citing Castro-Cortez v. INS, 239 F.3d 1037, 1046 (9th Cir. 2001), the magistrate judge concluded that transfer, rather than dismissal, was appropriate "because jurisdiction in these cases has been in a state of flux." The district court agreed and ordered the case transferred to the Tenth Circuit.(2)
Congress has declared that petitions for review of INS orders of removal must be filed "with the court of appeals for the judicial circuit in which the immigration judge completed the proceedings." 8 U.S.C. § 1252(b)(2), INA § 242(b)(2).(3) Duran did not follow this procedure; rather, he bypassed direct review and filed a habeas corpus petition (his first error) in the district court (his second error) under 28 U.S.C. § 2241.(4) The district court then transferred that petition to the Tenth Circuit under the transfer statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1631, which permits a court to transfer a case where there is "a want of jurisdiction" and transfer would be "in the interest of justice." Id. The district court's use of the transfer statute cures Duran's second error, the filing of his petition in the district court as opposed to the Tenth Circuit. That leaves us with only his first error--filing a habeas petition instead of a direct appeal--to consider. Both parties proceed as if Duran had properly filed a direct appeal with this court.(5) In the interests of justice, we will also treat Duran's petition as if it had been so filed and review it as a direct appeal of the INS's action. See Lopez v. Heinauer, 332 F.3d 507, 510­11 (8th Cir. 2003); Batista v. Ashcroft, 270 F.3d 8, 12 (1st Cir. 2001); Castro-Cortez v. INS, 239 F.3d 1037, 1047 (9th Cir. 2001).
1.That statute allows an alien who is physically present in the United States to apply to the Attorney General for adjustment of status upon submission of a $1,000 application fee. 8 U.S.C. § 1255(i)(1)(C), INA § 245(i)(1)(C).
2.On April 5, 2002, Duran filed an emergency motion for a stay of deportation pending appeal, as he was to be deported to Mexico later that day. In an April 5 Order, we denied the motion. Although neither the parties nor the record mention Duran's current whereabouts, we presume that he is now back in Mexico.
3.Although § 1252 speaks specifically of judicial review of "orders of removal," every circuit to address the question has found § 1252 to cover review of reinstatement orders as well. See, e.g., Gomez-Chavez v. Perryman, 308 F.3d 796, 801 (7th Cir. 2002); Ojeda-Terrazas v. Ashcroft, 290 F.3d 292, 295 (5th Cir. 2002); Alvarez-Portillo v. Ashcroft, 280 F.3d 858, 861, 868 (8th Cir. 2002); Bejjani v. INS, 271 F.3d 670, 674 (6th Cir. 2001); Velasquez-Gabriel v. Crocetti, 263 F.3d 102, 105 (4th Cir. 2001); Castro-Cortez v. INS, 239 F.3d 1037, 1043 (9th Cir. 2001).
4.We note that Duran's petition, although filed in the wrong court, was timely. Petitions for review of orders of removal must be filed within thirty days of the date of the final order of removal. 8 U.S.C. § 1252(b)(1), INA § 242(b)(1). Petitioner's reinstatement order became final on December 19, 2001, and he filed his habeas petition twelve days later, on December 31, 2001.
5.Duran's brief states, "Petitioner originally filed a habeas corpus action while incarcerated in Kansas, but the United States District Court ordered the case transferred to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. The case is now proceeding as a petition for review of the agency action." Pet. Br. at 2 (emphasis added). For its part, the Government's brief states, "A district court transferred Duran's case (initially brought as a habeas petition) to this Court under 28 U.S.C. § 1631.... This Court has jurisdiction to review the INS' reinstatement order pursuant to Section 242(a)(1) of the INA, 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(1)." Gov't Br. at 2 (emphasis added).
URL: http://ca10.washburnlaw.edu/cases/2003/07/02-9513a.htm.