Opinion ID: 4391884
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Immigration and Extradition Proceedings

Text: Burgos Noeller has been the subject ﬁrst of immigration proceedings and then criminal charges in Mexico and these extradition proceedings. His wife and children are U.S. citizens, but he is not. The Department of Homeland Security took him into custody in February 2015 and began removal 1 The cousin also provided an affidavit asserting that his aunt, Jacobo Carrillo’s mother, blamed Burgos Noeller for her daughter’s death and intended to have him assassinated. 4 No. 18-2723 proceedings in an immigration court in March. He was charged with removability under the Immigration and Nationality Act for entering the country without being admitted or paroled. 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(A)(i). During his removal proceedings, Burgos Noeller asserted his fear of Los Pepes. He sought asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture. See 8 U.S.C. § 1158; 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3); and 8 C.F.R. § 1208.16, respectively. Immigration judges have twice denied his applications, and Burgos Noeller’s appeal of the second decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals was pending when Mexico submitted its extradition request. Acting on behalf of the government of Mexico, the United States ﬁled an extradition complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and obtained a warrant for Noeller’s arrest pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3184. On October 12, 2017, Noeller was placed in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. The Department of Homeland Security asked the Board of Immigration Appeals to hold its removal proceedings in abeyance pending resolution of the extradition request. The Board agreed, over Burgos Noeller’s objection. Through the removal process, Burgos Noeller learned that a criminal trial court in Mexico City had issued a warrant to arrest him for Jacobo Carrillo’s murder. He has tried to challenge the warrant by starting what is called an amparo proceeding in Mexico. An amparo proceeding is a criminal protection lawsuit “somewhat similar to habeas corpus and, inter alia, is the means to review and annul unconstitutional judicial decisions.” United States v. Fowlie, 24 F.3d 1059, 1064 (9th Cir. 1994). It “is a proceeding created under the Mexican Constitution to protect individuals against state abuses by No. 18-2723 5 empowering Mexican federal courts to review government action.” In re Mathison, 974 F. Supp. 2d 1296, 1303 (D. Or. 2013). The status of Burgos Noeller’s amparo proceeding is not clear on this record. According to Burgos Noeller, the suit ended in the suspension of his arrest warrant. First, he says, the Second District Judge for Protection in Criminal Matters in the Federal District of Mexico issued an order that suspended the warrant temporarily on August 26, 2015. He also says the same court in Mexico then issued a permanent suspension of the arrest warrant on September 22, 2015. To support this version of events, Burgos Noeller submitted two unauthenticated documents. He asserts they are copies of the two Mexican court orders suspending his arrest warrant. Burgos Noeller also submitted English translations of these documents. These translations are diﬃcult to follow. When asked at oral argument who translated the orders, Burgos Noeller’s lawyer told this court he was unsure, but he thought it had been a person in his own oﬃce. He was also unable to explain to what extent the translations were performed by a person as opposed to a computer translation program. Regardless of the uncertain status of the amparo proceeding, the executive branch of Mexico’s government remains convinced that the original arrest warrant remains valid and enforceable. In the Northern District of Illinois, Magistrate Judge Cole held an extradition hearing for Burgos Noeller pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3184 and granted the government’s request for extradition. In re Noeller, No. 17 CR 664, 2018 WL 1027513 (N.D. Ill. Feb. 23, 2018). That was not an appealable order, so Burgos Noeller ﬁled a petition for a writ of habeas corpus challenging Judge Cole’s decision that he was extraditable. On March 9, 6 No. 18-2723 2018, Judge Cole formally certiﬁed Burgos Noeller’s extradi- tion. The district court then denied his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Burgos Noeller also sought a court order directing the Board of Immigration Appeals to decide his pending immigration claims. The district court denied this request, ﬁnding that it lacked jurisdiction to issue such an order to the Board. Burgos Noeller then ﬁled this appeal of the denial of his habeas corpus petition.