Opinion ID: 2750189
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Background on Raya-Vaca

Text: Raya-Vaca, a 33-year-old native and citizen of Mexico, first came to the United States at approximately the age of six. His mother brought him and his siblings to join his father, who at the time was living and working in Salinas, California. While his parents worked in agriculture, RayaVaca attended school and, after turning eighteen, held various full-time jobs. At age twenty-four, he began a relationship with Trisha, a natural-born United States citizen. The two lived together for seven years before Raya-Vaca’s removal, and they have two children who are United States citizens. Raya-Vaca’s brother is also a United States citizen. While in California, Raya-Vaca was convicted of three misdemeanors. In 2003, he was convicted of misdemeanor burglary in violation of California Penal Code section 459 and sentenced to ten days in jail and three years of probation. In 2010, he was convicted of obstruction of a police officer in violation of California Penal Code section 148(a)(1) and false identification to a police officer in violation of California Penal Code section 148.9(a), for which he served three days in jail and three years of probation. Raya-Vaca has also had prior contact with immigration authorities. Immigration officials sent him to Mexico in 2009, after which he sought to reenter the United States in March 2009, May 2009, June 2009, September 2009, November 2009, and September 2010. On three of those occasions, some of the individuals traveling with Raya-Vaca identified him as a smuggler. With the exception of his attempted reentry in September 2009, Raya-Vaca returned UNITED STATES V. RAYA-VACA 5 voluntarily to Mexico—and therefore suffered no formal immigration consequences, such as a removal order—after each attempted entry. After attempting to reenter on September 19, 2009, however, Raya-Vaca stipulated to removal and waived his right to a hearing; an immigration judge (IJ) then considered Raya-Vaca’s written representations of waiver sufficient to find him removable and issued an order of removal on September 22, 2009. II. Raya-Vaca’s July 2011 Reentry and Removal Order On July 24, 2011, Raya-Vaca entered the United States by “walking through the mountains,” with the intention of returning to Salinas to join his family. He was apprehended the following day near the State Route 94 Border Patrol checkpoint outside Potrero, California. Immigration officials initiated expedited removal proceedings pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1225.
§ 1225 An expedited removal proceeding under 8 U.S.C. § 1225 allows immigration officers to (1) determine whether certain aliens are inadmissible, and (2) enter removal orders, generally without hearing or further review. Two classes of individuals are subject to expedited removal proceedings. Originally, only aliens “arriving” in the United States were subject to the proceedings. However, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has expanded the reach of expedited removal proceedings to aliens who have entered the United States, as long as they (1) “are physically present in the U.S. without having been admitted or paroled,” 6 UNITED STATES V. RAYA-VACA (2) are discovered “within 100 air miles” of the United States border, and (3) cannot establish that they have been “physically present in the U.S.” for the fourteen days prior to the encounter with immigration authorities. Designating Aliens For Expedited Removal, 69 Fed. Reg. 48877-01, 48880 (Aug. 11, 2004). All such aliens are deemed “applicants for admission” into the United States, regardless of whether they seek to enter at a port of entry or have already entered the country. 8 U.S.C. § 1225(a)(1). During an expedited removal proceeding, an immigration officer must conduct an inspection and determine whether the alien is inadmissible because the alien (1) has made a material misrepresentation to gain admission into the United States, (2) has “falsely represent[ed]” himself to be a United States citizen, or (3) does not possess a “valid entry document.” See 8 U.S.C. § 1225(a)(3), (b)(1)(A)(i); see also id. § 1182(a)(6)(C)(i), (a)(6)(c)(ii)(I), (a)(7)(A)(i). When making a finding of inadmissibility, the examining immigration officer must “create a record of the facts of the case and statements made by the alien.” 8 C.F.R. § 235.3(b)(2)(i). The officer “shall . . . have the alien read (or have read to him or her) the statement.” Id. Moreover, the officer “shall advise the alien of the charges against him or her on Form I-860, Notice and Order of Expedited Removal, and the alien shall be given an opportunity to respond to those charges in the sworn statement.” Id. Then, if the officer determines the alien to be inadmissible, “the officer shall order the alien removed from the United States without further hearing or review unless the alien indicates either an intention to apply for asylum . . . or a fear of persecution.” 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(1)(A)(i). UNITED STATES V. RAYA-VACA 7 Unless an alien professes a fear of persecution or claims to be a lawful permanent resident (LPR), an expedited removal order “is not subject to administrative appeal.” Id. § 1225(b)(1)(C). However, the Attorney General has the discretion to provide a type of statutory relief to certain aliens: withdrawal of application for admission. See id. § 1225(a)(4). When an individual is permitted to “withdraw” his application for admission, he may leave voluntarily and without a removal order, and thus without facing formal immigration consequences.1 See 8 C.F.R. § 1235.4.
Raya-Vaca faced expedited removal proceedings because he was present in the United States without admission, had been discovered within 100 miles of the border, and could not establish that he had been present in the United States for the prior fourteen days. See Designating Aliens For Expedited Removal, 69 Fed. Reg. at 48880. During Raya-Vaca’s expedited removal proceedings, Border Patrol Agent Alberto Baca interviewed Raya-Vaca in English and prepared a Record of Sworn Statement. RayaVaca then signed an acknowledgment that he had read the Record of Sworn Statement (the Jurat). Agent Baca found Raya-Vaca inadmissible and subject to removal because he had illegally entered the United States without inspection and was not in possession of any valid documentation permitting him to enter. Agent Baca ordered that Raya-Vaca be removed from the United States. 1 As noted earlier, any individual subjected to expedited removal proceedings is deemed to have applied for admission, even if he sought to enter or entered the United States illegally. See 8 U.S.C. § 1225(a)(1). 8 UNITED STATES V. RAYA-VACA