Opinion ID: 788868
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Sufficiency of Evidence and the Right to Cross-examine

Text: 17 In order to deport Hernandez, the government must prove by clear, unequivocal, and convincing evidence that the facts alleged as grounds for deportation are true. Gameros-Hernandez v. INS, 883 F.2d 839, 841 (9th Cir.1989) (citing Woodby v. INS, 385 U.S. 276, 286, 87 S.Ct. 483, 17 L.Ed.2d 362 (1966)); see also 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(3)(A). Although we review for reasonable, substantial, and probative evidence in the record as a whole, we affirm only if the [agency] has successfully carried this heavy burden of clear, unequivocal, and convincing evidence. Cortez-Acosta v. INS, 234 F.3d 476, 481 (9th Cir.2000) (per curiam) (internal citations and quotation marks omitted); see also Nakamoto v. Ashcroft, 363 F.3d 874, 882 (9th Cir.2004) (explaining that the court must determine whether substantial evidence supports a finding by clear and convincing evidence). Where, as here, the BIA conducts a de novo review and issues its own decision, rather than adopting the IJ's decision as its own, we review the BIA's decision. Simeonov v. Ashcroft, 371 F.3d 532, 535 (9th Cir.2004). 18 Only three pieces of evidence support the BIA's determination that Hernandez participated in a prearranged plan to transport the aliens to and from the border in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(1)(E)(i): (1) Hernandez's wife's statement, (2) an I-213 with Hernandez's name on it; and (3) Columba Landa-Samano's statement. 6 19 The BIA appears to have placed significant weight on the statement given by Hernandez's wife. However, as discussed previously, Hernandez argues that his wife's statement was obtained as a result of the agents' false promises and that her interrogation violated 8 C.F.R. § 287.3. In order to avoid a lengthy examination regarding the validity of these allegations, the IJ asked the government to withdraw the statement. The government agreed and the IJ stated that he would not consider it or any references to it. Given the government's representation at the time of the hearing, it cannot now rely upon the statement. 7 Thus, we must disregard it in determining whether the government has met its burden by clear, unequivocal, and convincing evidence. 20 Hernandez's I-213 form also merits no evidentiary weight. Although it states that he helped the aliens enter illegally, the government does not contend that the source of the information on the form was Hernandez. Rather, the I-213 merely refers to the sworn statements of Hernandez's wife and of Landa-Samano. In so doing, it provides no additional evidence but simply reiterates the statement provided by Hernandez's wife, which as we have previously explained cannot be considered, and the statement given by Landa-Samano, which we address below. 8 The I-213 is of no independent value and therefore is entitled to no evidentiary weight. Cf. Murphy v. INS, 54 F.3d 605, 610-11 (9th Cir.1995) (holding that an I-213 form merited little if any weight where petitioner disputed the information on the form and the source of the information was in doubt). 9 21 Without the I-213 and Hernandez's wife's statement, Landa-Samano's statement is the only evidence of Hernandez's role in assisting the aliens by transporting them to the border and picking them up on the other side. However, Hernandez was never afforded the opportunity to cross-examine Landa-Samano. 22 The INA expressly requires that an alien be granted a reasonable opportunity to examine the evidence against the alien, to present evidence on the alien's own behalf, and to cross-examine witnesses presented by the Government. ... 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(b)(4)(B) (emphasis added); see also 8 C.F.R. § 1240.10(a)(4) (stating that the IJ shall [a]dvise the respondent that he or she will have a reasonable opportunity to examine and object to the evidence against him or her ... and to cross examine witnesses presented by the government.). 10 Moreover, the Fifth Amendment's Due Process Clause applies to all `persons' within the United States, including aliens, Zadvydas v. Davis, 533 U.S. 678, 693, 121 S.Ct. 2491, 150 L.Ed.2d 653 (2001), and requires that aliens be given a reasonable opportunity to confront and cross-examine witnesses. 11 23 Although the rules of evidence are not applicable to immigration hearings, Baliza v. INS, 709 F.2d 1231, 1233-34 (9th Cir.1983), the constitutional and statutory guarantees of due process require that `the government's choice whether to produce a witness or to use a hearsay statement [not be] wholly unfettered.' Saidane v. INS, 129 F.3d 1063, 1065 (9th Cir.1997) (quoting Baliza, 709 F.2d at 1234). As we explained in Saidane, 24 [t]he test as to whether a hearsay affidavit has been properly admitted is whether the statement is probative and whether its admission was fundamentally fair. Thus, we require that the government must make a reasonable effort in INS proceedings to afford the alien a reasonable opportunity to confront the witnesses against him or her. 25 129 F.3d at 1065 (internal citations, quotation marks and alterations omitted); see also Cunanan v. INS, 856 F.2d 1373, 1375 (9th Cir.1988). In short, the INS may not use an affidavit from an absent witness `unless the INS first establishes that, despite reasonable efforts, it was unable to secure the presence of the witness at the hearing.' Ocasio v. Ashcroft, 375 F.3d 105, 107 (1st Cir.2004) (quoting Olabanji v. INS, 973 F.2d 1232, 1234 (5th Cir.1992)); see also Saidane, 129 F.3d at 1065; Hernandez-Garza v. INS, 882 F.2d 945, 948 (5th Cir.1989); Dallo v. INS, 765 F.2d 581, 586 (6th Cir.1985). 26 In this case, when Hernandez asked to cross-examine Landa-Samano, the IJ initially agreed that cross-examination was necessary. In response, the government explained that it had already deported her. The IJ then shifted the burden of producing Landa-Samano to Hernandez, reasoning that Hernandez was in a better position than the INS to locate her in Mexico, because she was from his hometown. In so doing, the IJ erred: It is clear that the burden of producing a government's hearsay declarant that [a petitioner] may wish to cross-examine is on the government, not the petitioner. Cunanan, 856 F.2d at 1375; see also Saidane, 129 F.3d at 1065-66. The government may not evade its obligation to produce its witness by taking affirmative steps, such as deportation, that render the witness unavailable. Indeed, the government's burden is greater, not lesser, when it exercises custodial power over the witness in question. Because, in this case, the government failed to make any reasonable effort to produce the hearsay declarant, and indeed, took action to render her unavailable, the admission of her statement was fundamentally unfair. See Cunanan, 856 F.2d at 1375; see also Saidane, 129 F.3d at 1065 (holding that minimal effort of an IJ, such as issuing a subpoena to the petitioner to serve on the witness, cannot suffice to satisfy the government's obligation to make reasonable efforts to produce its witnesses); Hernandez-Garza, 882 F.2d at 948 (holding that the government's efforts to produce adverse witnesses were insufficient where it simply sent a letter to one of the witnesses). 27 Moreover, when Landa-Samano gave her statement to the arresting officers, she was herself at risk of a felony prosecution under 8 U.S.C. § 1326 because she had previously been deported and had reentered the country illegally. Thus she was not, by any means, a disinterested witness. Even if her affidavit were admissible notwithstanding the government's failure to make reasonable efforts to obtain her presence at the hearing, the fact that the inculpatory statements were never subject to cross-examination and the fact that she had a substantial personal interest in providing the testimony she did, true or false, would significantly undermine the affidavit's reliability. 12 Given these circumstances, the affidavit, standing alone, could not constitute sufficient evidence to prove removability under the clear, unequivocal, and convincing standard. See Murphy, 54 F.3d at 612; Hernandez-Garza, 882 F.2d at 945. 28 As the Supreme Court declared in Woodby, the ties that legal residents develop to the American communities in which they live and work, should not be lightly severed: 29 This Court has not closed its eyes to the drastic deprivations that may follow when a resident of this country is compelled by our Government to forsake all the bonds formed here and go to a foreign land where he often has no contemporary identification. In words apposite to the question before us, we have spoken of the solidity of proof that is required for a judgment entailing the consequences of deportation. 30 Woodby, 385 U.S. at 285, 87 S.Ct. 483 (quoting Rowoldt v. Perfetto, 355 U.S. 115, 120, 78 S.Ct. 180, 2 L.Ed.2d 140 (1957)); see also Gameros-Hernandez, 883 F.2d at 841. In this case, the government's proof (even if it were admissible) is not sufficient to carry its very demanding burden. See Cortez-Acosta, 234 F.3d at 481; see also Murphy, 54 F.3d at 612; Hernandez-Garza, 882 F.2d at 948; Guzman-Guzman v. INS, 559 F.2d 1149, 1150 (9th Cir.1977). A single affidavit from a self-interested witness not subject to cross-examination simply does not rise to the level of clear, unequivocal, and convincing evidence required to prove deportability. We vacate the order of deportation and reverse the BIA's decision. 13 31 VACATED and REVERSED.