Opinion ID: 1043396
Heading Depth: 6
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Invalid Waiver

Text: Obtaining an invalid waiver of the right to appeal a deportation order violates due process. Lopez-Vasquez, 1 F.3d at 753–54 (“Although a deportee may waive his right to judicial review of his deportation order, that waiver must be considered and intelligent. Otherwise, the deportee is deprived of judicial review in violation of due process.” (internal quotation marks omitted) (quoting Mendoza-Lopez, 481 U.S. at 837–38)). Thus, although “an alien cannot collaterally attack an underlying deportation order if he validly waived the right to appeal that order,” United States v. Arrieta, 224 F.3d 1076, 1079 (9th Cir. 2000), “[a] valid waiver of the right to appeal ‘must be both considered and intelligent,’” Ramos, 623 F.3d at 680 (quoting Arrieta, 224 F.3d at 1079) (additional internal quotation marks omitted). The first two prongs of § 1326(d) are satisfied if the right to appeal was denied in violation of due process. See ReyesBonilla, 671 F.3d at 1043 (“If Reyes did not validly waive his right of appeal, the first two requirements under § 1326(d) will be satisfied.”); Ubaldo-Figueroa, 364 F.3d at 1049–50; see also Gonzalez-Villalobos, 2013 WL 3854657, at –5 & n.7. At the time of his removal proceeding, Gomez signed a Stipulated Removal form, printed in English and Spanish, waiving his right to appeal the deportation order. Gomez argues that because he contests the validity of his waiver, the government’s reliance on that form—without more—is insufficient to prove by “clear and convincing evidence” that UNITED STATES V. GOMEZ 13 his waiver was valid. Guided by Ramos and Reyes-Bonilla, we agree. The parties begin by debating who bears the burden of proving the validity of Gomez’s waiver. Under the same circumstances as those in this case, we have said unmistakably that “[t]he government bears the burden of proving valid waiver in a collateral attack of the underlying removal proceedings.” Ramos, 623 F.3d at 680 (citing LopezVasquez, 1 F.3d at 754–54); see also Reyes-Bonilla, 671 F.3d at 1043. The government must prove a valid waiver “by clear and convincing evidence.” Reyes-Bonilla, 671 F.3d at 1043 (citing United States v. Pallares-Galan, 359 F.3d 1088, 1097 (9th Cir. 2004)). We find unavailing the government’s argument that United States v. Medina, 236 F.3d 1028, 1030 (9th Cir. 2001), is to the contrary. In Medina, the defendant argued that the government could not prove that he had in fact been deported without a tape recording of the deportation proceeding. Id. We noted that “the lawfulness of the prior deportation is not an element of the offense under § 1326.” Id. (quoting United States v. Delgado, 98 F.3d 492, 493 (9th Cir. 1996)) (internal quotation marks omitted). Thus, in establishing the fact of a prior deportation as an element of an illegal reentry offense, “[t]he government merely needs to prove that [the defendant] was in fact previously deported.” Id. Gomez does not challenge the government’s ability to prove that he was in fact deported. Rather, Gomez argues under a separate provision of the statute—§ 1326(d)—that his deportation was invalid. In spelling out the elements of an illegal reentry offense in Medina, we did not silently overrule our prior precedent holding that “[t]he government bears the burden of proving the waiver.” Lopez-Vasquez, 1 F.3d at 754 (citing 14 UNITED STATES V. GOMEZ Brewer v. Williams, 430 U.S. 387, 404 (1977) (“[I]t [is] incumbent upon the State to prove an intentional relinquishment or abandonment of a known right or privilege.” (internal quotation marks omitted))).4 As Ramos emphasized, this court should “‘indulge every reasonable presumption against waiver,’” and should “‘not presume acquiescence in the loss of fundamental rights.’” 623 F.3d at 680 (quoting Lopez-Vasquez, 1 F.3d at 75[4]); see also Reyes-Bonilla, 671 F.3d at 1044. We carefully abide by this principle, especially where an uncounseled individual purportedly waived his right to appeal. Where an alien defendant (1) was represented by counsel at his deportation proceeding and (2) did not allege facts undermining the validity of his waiver, we held that the government met its initial burden of proving a valid waiver by introducing an official immigration record. United States v. Galicia-Gonzalez, 997 F.2d 602, 603–04 (9th Cir. 1993). We stated that “where the government introduces official records which on their face show a valid waiver of rights in connection with a deportation proceeding, the burden shifts to the defendant to come forward with evidence tending to prove the waiver was invalid.” Id. at 604. There, GaliciaGonzalez’s counsel signed a waiver of rights form “along with a declaration that she fully explained the contents of the agreement to him and that he entered it with full knowledge.” 4 Nor did Medina overrule our long-established precedent merely by saying that “[i]n order to collaterally attack his prior deportation, Medina must show that the deportation hearing was fundamentally unfair and that he was prejudiced by the error.” 236 F.3d at 1031 (emphasis added). At most, this statement merely reiterates the statutory requirement that the alien “demonstrate” the prongs of § 1326(d) and prove prejudice. See Reyes-Bonilla, 671 F.3d at 1039. UNITED STATES V. GOMEZ 15 Id. at 603. And Galicia-Gonzalez did “not even allege[] there was anything wrong with his deportation, i.e., that his rights were improperly explained or that he was coerced into waiving them. The government’s prima facie showing thus stands unchallenged and this satisfies the government’s burden of showing a valid deportation for purposes of section 1326.” Id. at 604. Galicia-Gonzalez is not controlling here for two independent reasons: (1) Gomez was not represented by counsel at his removal proceeding, and (2) Gomez contested the validity of his waiver and alleged facts supporting its invalidity in the district court when prosecuted for illegal reentry. First, Ramos explicitly held that the district court erred by relying on Galicia-Gonzalez to shift the burden to Ramos, because Galicia-Gonzalez was represented at his deportation proceeding while Ramos was not. Ramos, 623 F.3d at 680 (noting “that the district court erred in concluding that the validity of Ramos’s stipulated removal order was controlled by our decision in Galicia-Gonzalez” because “unlike the petitioner in Galicia-Gonzalez, who had received a full explanation of a stipulated removal agreement from his counsel, and who had entered into the stipulation through counsel, Ramos lacked the benefit of legal representation”). Second, when a defendant in a § 1326 prosecution contests the validity of his waiver of the right to appeal his deportation order, we have held that the government’s introduction of an official document signed by the defendant waiving his right to appeal is insufficient to meet the government’s burden of proving a valid waiver. Reyes-Bonilla, 671 F.3d at 1043–45 (noting that the district court’s finding of valid waiver “would be sound if Reyes had not contested his understanding of the notice” but holding that the signed notice was inadequate to meet the 16 UNITED STATES V. GOMEZ government’s burden where Reyes testified in district court that he had lacked understanding of the removal proceedings). The circumstances underlying the stipulated deportation in Ramos are strikingly similar to the circumstances here. Like Ramos, Gomez was unrepresented and, like Ramos, was deported pursuant to a stipulated removal proceeding at the Eloy, Arizona detention facility. See Ramos, 623 F.3d at 677. Ramos signed the same stipulation as Gomez. The preprinted stipulation form contains both English and Spanish statements that waive the alien’s rights to counsel, ¶4, to a hearing before an IJ, ¶5, to any form of relief (including voluntary departure), ¶8, and to appeal, ¶13. In Ramos, we described the process for stipulated removal proceedings at Eloy: After detainees are selected for participation in the stipulated removal program, deportation officers typically prepare an NTA and a Stipulated Removal form for each individual. Deportation officers then gather detainees selected for the program for a group presentation. There, an immigration enforcement agent explains in Spanish that a detainee has two options: first, to accept stipulated removal, or second, to appear before an IJ, where the detainee may ask to remain legally in the United States or seek voluntary departure. The agent also advises the group that under the stipulated removal program, a detainee can be removed that very day; whereas it could take anywhere from two to three weeks or longer to appear before an IJ UNITED STATES V. GOMEZ 17 if the detainee chooses not to sign the form. The agent then reads the text of the Stipulated Removal form aloud in Spanish, and concludes the presentation. Next, DHS deportation officers meet individually with each detainee to determine whether he or she wants to sign the Stipulated Removal form. Deportation officers do not review the detainee’s A-file at any time before or during the individual meeting. No transcriber, interpreter, or attorney is present during the detainee’s individual meeting with the deportation officer. Id. at 678. This description is consistent with the record in this case, in particular Gomez’s sworn declaration. In Ramos, we described the testimony of the immigration officer who met individually with Ramos after the en masse reading, and we noted her limited Spanish language skills. 623 F.3d at 678–79. We concluded that “Ramos’s waiver of his right to appeal was invalid for several independent reasons” including because his waiver “was not ‘considered or intelligent’ because he did not receive a competent Spanish language translation of his right to appeal when he signed the form.” Id. at 680. We are not persuaded by the government’s argument that Ramos relied on the incompetence of the immigration officer’s individual translation. This argument improperly shifts the burden to the alien defendant to prove an incompetent explanation of the alien’s rights; however, the burden to prove a competent explanation, and thus valid waiver, rests with the government. “We cannot conclude that 18 UNITED STATES V. GOMEZ waiver of rights, including the right to appeal, was ‘considered or intelligent’ without evidence that a detainee was ‘able to understand the questions posed to him’ when put to the choice of foregoing all rights or remaining in detention until he could appear before an IJ.” Ramos, 623 F.3d at 681 (emphasis added) (citing Perez-Lastor v. INS, 208 F.3d 773, 778 (9th Cir. 2000)). The fact that Ramos signed a stipulation indicating his understanding and waiver, and that the IJ found his waiver to be “voluntary, knowing, and intelligent,” id. at 679, was insufficient to meet the government’s burden of proof; and the government offers nothing more here. See also Reyes-Bonilla, 671 F.3d at 1044–45 (concluding that the government failed to meet its burden of proving a valid waiver where the evidence was “unclear” as to whether the immigration officer explained to Reyes “in a language he could understand” his right to appeal and there was “no evidence as to the extent of the explanation given or [the immigration officer’s] ability to communicate in Spanish”). Thus, we see no reason to distinguish Ramos. If anything, there is more evidence here that Gomez had difficulty understanding the stipulated removal proceeding. Gomez stated in his declaration that he filed in the district court that he has difficulty reading Spanish, that he did not understand the stipulated proceeding, and that he received the same sort of en masse reading of the stipulation as Ramos. Gomez also stated that the immigration officer did not review the Stipulated Removal form with him during his individual meeting with the officer. The government has presented no evidence—other than the signed form—that Gomez was provided with a competent translation when he signed it. As we held in Ramos, due process requires that an alien be provided an individual explanation that is competently UNITED STATES V. GOMEZ 19 translated “when he sign[s] the form” above and beyond an en masse explanation. 623 F.3d at 680. Moreover, shifting the burden to Gomez to prove an incompetent translation would skew the government’s incentives and create an insurmountable hurdle for alien defendants. In Ramos, the government produced the immigration officer at a hearing only to have the court find that her translation had been inadequate. As here, the government may not always be able to produce the immigration officer; or she may be otherwise unavailable. Thus, it is not realistic to expect the defendant to produce the officer. Furthermore, if the government can stand silent and merely rely on the signed stipulation as sufficiently “clear and convincing” evidence, then it would have no incentive to produce an immigration officer witness. In sum, we hold that the stipulated removal proceeding at Eloy violated Gomez’s right to due process by obtaining an invalid waiver of Gomez’s right to appeal the deportation order. The government has not met its burden of proving by “clear and convincing evidence” that Gomez validly waived his right to that appeal.5 5 The government’s argument—that the stipulated removal process set forth in 8 C.F.R. § 1003.25(b) is constitutional—misses the point. Gomez does not contend that the regulation is unconstitutional, but rather that immigration authorities frequently abuse the regulatory procedure in violation of due process, and did so here. It is not uncommon that the Constitution requires more than what is included in the bare text of any given statute or regulation. To hold, as Ramos did, that the government must meet its burden of proving a valid waiver does not invalidate the procedures set forth in § 1003.25(b). 20 UNITED STATES V. GOMEZ