Opinion ID: 182627
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Ashraf's failure to obtain documents necessary for his departure

Text: When Ashraf was released from prison in 2008 after serving his 12-month sentence for willfully failing to sign travel documents, he was transferred to the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and placed in expedited removal proceedings. He is subject to removal because of his 2003 conviction for being a nonimmigrant alien in possession of firearms or ammunition (the firearms conviction), which is considered an aggravated felony. The government maintains that Ashraf was also removable based on the fact that he had no lawful status in the United States once his student visa had expired and he had not been granted permanent residence. See Ashraf v. United States, No. 05 Civ. 80420, at 10 (S.D.Fla. Nov. 30, 2005). On May 23, 2008, Claudia Babic, an ICE immigration-enforcement agent assigned to Ashraf's case, gave Ashraf various forms concerning his removal from the country. Ashraf refused to sign the forms and instead checked a box indicating his desire to contest his removal, but he did not check any boxes to indicate a specific basis for his objection. The parties dispute whether one of the forms that Ashraf was given was a notice of intent to issue a final administrative removal order or was instead an unsigned copy of the final removal order itself. On May 27, 2008, Jay Dehmalo, another immigration officer, served a Failure to Comply Form I-229(a) on Ashraf and read him the form's contents, which warned Ashraf of the consequences for failing to comply with a final removal order. Dehmalo mistakenly thought at the time that a final removal order had already been issued against Ashraf, even though such an order was in fact not issued until June 24, 2008. The government sought to remove Ashraf to Pakistan. Dehmalo, as well as the other ICE officers who dealt with Ashraf, testified that Ashraf refused to sign the travel forms because he insisted that he was a Kuwaiti citizen who objected to being removed to Pakistan. (Ashraf was born and raised in Kuwait by Pakistani parents.) He maintained this position even though the documents in Ashraf's alien file, as well as officials at the Kuwaiti embassy, confirmed that he was a Pakistani and not a Kuwaiti citizen. On the other hand, Ashraf testified that he did not sign the forms during any of his contacts with the various ICE agents because he was contesting his removal from the United States, and not because he disputed his Pakistani citizenship. Ashraf thought that if he signed the forms, he would be admitting that he was removable. He concedes that even if the government had agreed to send him to Kuwait rather than to Pakistan, he still would not have signed the travel documents because he believed that he was not legally removable. Ashraf also explains that he did not sign the documents related to his removal in May 2008 because he thought that his removal was already final based on his meetings with Babic and Dehmalo, and because he was in the process of contesting what he thought was the final removal order against him. That is why he sent a letter to ICE on June 1, 2008 inquiring as to the proper procedures and deadlines for filing a motion to reopen his final removal order. When he did not receive a response from ICE, he conducted his own independent research and came to the conclusion that he had 90 days to file a motion to reopen the final order of removal against him. Ashraf then prepared a 40-page brief with exhibits and affidavits in support of his motion. Based on instructions that he received from the immigration court in late July 2008, Ashraf filed his motion to reopen with ICE. The parties dispute whether the motion was properly filed, but this issue is not relevant to the present case. On July 22, 2008, approximately one month after the final removal order was issued, Kevin Hardy, another ICE agent, attempted to get Ashraf to complete a Pakistani passport application. But Ashraf again insisted that he was a Kuwaiti citizen and refused to cooperate. Hardy then read to Ashraf verbatim the government's official warning regarding the consequences of his failing to comply with his obligation to obtain travel documents. Ashraf responded that he understood, but he still refused to assist the government in obtaining the documents necessary for his removal. He was next visited on September 9, 2008 by Brandon Brown, yet another ICE agent. Ashraf again refused to sign a Pakistani passport application. Brown then served Ashraf with a notice informing him that he would not be released from ICE custody and, once again, with a Form I-229(a), warning Ashraf of the consequences regarding his failure to depart from the country. Ashraf also refused at that meeting to provide his fingerprints for identification purposes on the Form I-229(a). Finally, Ashraf was visited on October 7, 2008 by James Schubert, an ICE supervisory agent. Ashraf once more refused to sign the travel documents for his return to Pakistan and was again presented with Form I-229(a)'s warning concerning the consequences of his failure to comply. On that date, Schubert obtained Ashraf's fingerprints for identification purposes. Ashraf claims that Schubert took Ashraf's hand and forcibly obtained his fingerprints against his will. The government in the present case charged Ashraf with four criminal counts arising out of his refusal to assist the government with his removal from the United States. Three of these counts are based on Ashraf's individual interactions with various immigration officers on July 22, September 9, and October 7, 2008 for willfully fail[ing] or refus[ing] to make [a] timely application in good faith for travel or other documents necessary to [his] departure. 8 U.S.C. § 1253(a)(1)(B). The fourth count alleged that, based on all of Ashraf's actions from June 24, 2008 through November 3, 2008, he connive[d] or conspire[d], or t[ook] any other action, designed to prevent or hamper or with the purpose of preventing or hampering [his] departure. 8 U.S.C. § 1253(a)(1)(C).