Opinion ID: 3150212
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: If the alien is detained or confined

Text: (except under an immigration process), the date the alien is released from detention or confinement. Id. § 1231(a)(1)(B). The removal period may be extended beyond ninety days if a detainee “fails or refuses” to cooperate in his removal from the United States. Id. § 1231(a)(1)(C). “If the alien does not leave or is not removed within the removal period,” he “shall be subject to supervision,” but detention is no longer mandatory. Id. § 1231(a)(3). Rather, the Attorney General has discretion to detain certain classes of non-citizens and to impose conditions of release on others. Id. § 1231(a)(3), (a)(6).14 Before releasing a detainee, the government must conclude that removal is “not practicable or not in the public interest,” that the detainee is “non-violent” and “not likely to pose a threat to the community following 14 To avoid “serious constitutional concerns,” we have previously “construe[d] § 1231(a)(6) as requiring an individualized bond hearing, before an immigration judge, for aliens facing prolonged detention under that provision.” Diouf II, 634 F.3d at 1086 (quoting Casas, 535 F.3d at 950). RODRIGUEZ V. ROBBINS 49 release,” and that the detainee “does not pose a significant flight risk” and is “not likely to violate the conditions of release.” 8 C.F.R. § 241.4(e); see also id. § 241.4(f) (enumerating factors the review panel should “weigh[] in considering whether to recommend further detention or release of a detainee”). Here, the class is defined, in relevant part, as non-citizens who are detained “pending completion of removal proceedings, including judicial review.” The class therefore by definition excludes any detainee subject to a final order of removal. Petitioners describe the § 1231(a) subclass as individuals detained under that section who have received a stay of removal from the BIA or a court. However, if a non-citizen has received a stay of removal from the BIA pending further administrative review, then the order of removal is not yet “administratively final.” 8 U.S.C. § 1231(a)(1)(B)(i). The non-citizen has not been “ordered removed,” and the removal period has not begun, so § 1231(a) is inapplicable. See Owino v. Napolitano, 575 F.3d 952, 955 (9th Cir. 2009) (“[W]hile administrative proceedings are pending on remand, Owino will not be subject to a final order of removal, so § 1231 cannot apply.”). Similarly, as long as a non-citizen’s removal order is stayed by a court pending judicial review, that non-citizen is not subject to “the court’s final order.” 8 U.S.C. § 1231(a)(1)(B)(ii). In such circumstances, § 1231(a) is, again, inapplicable. See Prieto-Romero v. Clark, 534 F.3d 1053, 1059 (9th Cir. 2008) (“[Section] 1231(a) does not provide authority to detain an alien . . . whose removal has been stayed by a court of appeals pending its disposition of his petition for review.”); Casas, 535 F.3d at 947 (“If an alien has filed a petition for review with this 50 RODRIGUEZ V. ROBBINS court and received a judicial stay of removal, the ‘removal period’ under § 1231(a) does not begin until this court ‘denies the petition and withdraws the stay of removal.’”) (quoting Prieto-Romero, 534 F.3d at 1060).15 Simply put, the § 1231(a) subclass does not exist. The district court’s grant of summary judgment and permanent injunction are therefore reversed to the extent they pertain to individuals detained under § 1231(a).