Opinion ID: 4388694
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Winter Factors

Text: California argues that the three other Winter factors— irreparable harm, the balance of the equities, and the public interest, 555 U.S. at 20—provide an alternative basis for affirming the district court’s denial of a preliminary injunction. See Big Country Foods, Inc. v. Bd. of Educ., 868 F.2d 1085, 1088 (9th Cir. 1989) (concluding that a district court’s denial of a motion for a preliminary injunction “may [be] affirm[ed] on any ground supported by the record”). Because we agree with the district court that the United States is unlikely to succeed on the merits of its challenges to AB 450’s employee-notice provisions and SB 54, we consider these factors only as applied to the provision of AB 103 that imposes an impermissible burden on the federal government. In granting the United States’ motion to enjoin the two invalidated provisions of AB 450, the district court “presume[d] that [the United States] will suffer irreparable harm based on the constitutional violations.” California I, 314 F. Supp. 3d at 1112. This conclusion was consistent with our previous recognition that preventing a violation of 19 Because we agree with the district court’s conclusion, we need not address whether § 1373 is itself unlawful, though we note that various district courts have questioned its constitutionality. See, e.g., City and County of San Francisco v. Sessions, 349 F. Supp. 3d 924, 949–53 (N.D. Cal. 2018), appeal docketed, No. 18-17308 (9th Cir. Dec. 4, 2018); City of Chicago v. Sessions, 321 F. Supp. 3d 855, 873 (N.D. Ill. 2018); City of Philadelphia v. Sessions, 309 F. Supp. 3d 289, 329–31 (E.D. Pa. 2018), aff’d in part, vacated in part on other grounds sub nom. City of Philadelphia v. Attorney Gen., 916 F.3d 276 (3d Cir. 2019). 52 UNITED STATES V. STATE OF CALIFORNIA the Supremacy Clause serves the public interest. See, e.g., Arizona I, 641 F.3d at 366 (“We have found that ‘it is clear that it would not be equitable or in the public’s interest to allow the state . . . to violate the requirements of federal law, especially when there are no adequate remedies available. . . . In such circumstances, the interest of preserving the Supremacy Clause is paramount.’” (alterations in original) (quoting Cal. Pharmacists Ass’n v. Maxwell-Jolly, 563 F.3d 847, 852–53 (9th Cir. 2009))); Am. Trucking Ass’ns v. City of Los Angeles, 559 F.3d 1046, 1059–60 (9th Cir. 2009) (determining that “the balance of equities and the public interest [] weigh in favor of a preliminary injunction” against a likely preempted ordinance). Nevertheless, California argues that “[t]he balance of equities and public interest weigh strongly against enjoining [its] laws during the pendency of litigation” because “a preliminary injunction here would lead to significant, concrete harm to the public.” At the district court, California claimed that “the Legislature passed AB 103 in reaction to growing concerns of egregious conditions in facilities housing civil detainees,” California I, 314 F. Supp. 3d at 1090–91—a conclusion supported in detail by amici curiae, including the National Health Law Program and the Immigrant Legal Resource Center. Moreover, we note that California retains an historic—and, since the federal government’s contracts with immigration detainee facilities explicitly contemplate the application of state regulations, undisputed—authority to regulate the conditions of detainees housed within its borders. By contrast, other than relying on general pronouncements that a Supremacy Clause violation alone constitutes sufficient harm to warrant an injunction, the United States did not present compelling evidence that AB 103 inspections conducted by the UNITED STATES V. STATE OF CALIFORNIA 53 California Attorney General harmed facilities’ detention operations. Rather, the only evidence of AB 103’s burdensome effect is conclusory assertions made by a DHS official in a declaration and deposition. 20 Neither he nor the United States provided any indication, even an estimate, of the actual costs imposed by AB 103 or the number of ICE officers forced to assist in the extra inspection efforts, or any quantification whatsoever of the enactment’s burden. The United States’ complaint in this action did not even plead that the statute imposes an economic or operational burden on DHS or anyone else. We are not prepared, in the first instance, to affirm the district court’s denial of a preliminary injunction as to 20 The relevant deposition transcript reads as follows: [I]t’s going to require yet another inspection that we think is unnecessary, because these are federal contracts, these are federal prisoners detained under federal authority. We have our own set of standards. We certainly don’t believe there should be any inspections to talk about due process of people that are in federal custody, under federal authority, conditions of confinement when we have our own set of standards which is much higher than most states. So there’s this general feeling that this is—it’s burdensome, that they’re going to be required to pull resources to do these inspections, when we have numerous inspections already at these facilities from various different components. So again, it’s—it’s talk of burdensomeness—right?— extra work, pulling people from their duties to host these things and gather documents and paperwork and making people available for interviews and so forth. 54 UNITED STATES V. STATE OF CALIFORNIA AB 103’s burdensome provision based on these considerations. However, on remand, we encourage the district court to reexamine the equitable Winter factors in light of the evidence in the record.