Opinion ID: 181682
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Regulatory claim

Text: Finally, Puc-Ruiz contends that suppression is required because ICE violated agency regulations 8 C.F.R. § 287.3(a) and (c). Section 287.3(a) requires that an alien arrested without a warrant and placed in removal proceedings be interviewed by an immigration officer other than the arresting officer, unless no other qualified officer is readily available and locating one would entail unnecessary delay. Section 287.3(c) requires that such an alien be advised of the reasons for his arrest, of his right to legal representation, and that any statement made may be used against him in a subsequent proceeding. Additionally, § 287.3(c) requires that the alien be given a list of the free legal services available in the district where the hearing will be held. Under the BIA's case law, a regulatory violation can result in the exclusion of evidence if the regulation in question serves a purpose of benefit to the alien and the violation prejudiced interests of the alien which were protected by the regulation. In re Garcia-Flores, 17 I. & N. Dec. 325, 328 (BIA 1980). As a general rule, . . . prejudice will have to be specifically demonstrated, unless compliance with the regulation is mandated by the Constitution, in which case prejudice may be presumed. Id. at 329 (citing United States v. Calderon-Medina, 591 F.2d 529, 532 (9th Cir.1979)); see also Leslie v. Attorney Gen. of U.S., 611 F.3d 171, 175-80 (3d Cir.2010). To demonstrate prejudice, the alien must show that the regulatory violation harmed his interests in such a way as to affect potentially the outcome of [his] deportation proceeding. In re Garcia Flores, 17 I. & N. Dec. at 328; accord Ram v. Mukasey, 529 F.3d 1238, 1242 (9th Cir.2008). The BIA decline[d] to find that a regulatory violation occurred because there was no evidence in the record demonstrating either that another officer, other than Agent Othic, was available to interview Puc-Ruiz or that Agent Othic failed to properly warn Puc-Ruiz that any statement he made could be used against him in subsequent proceedings. The BIA may have erred in shifting the burden to Puc-Ruiz to demonstrate that ICE did not comply with agency regulations. See, e.g., Singh v. Mukasey, 553 F.3d 207, 216 (2d Cir.2009) (finding that the government had not established compliance with 8 C.F.R. § 287.3(a) where [t]he record does not show that no other qualified officer was available to examine [the alien].). However, we find that any error was harmless because Puc-Ruiz has not demonstrated prejudice. Compliance with 8 C.F.R. § 287.3(a) and (c) is not constitutionally mandated and therefore prejudice cannot be presumed. In re Garcia-Flores, 17 I. & N. Dec. at 329 (finding that an alleged violation of the warning requirements set forth in 8 C.F.R. § 287.3 could not be presumed to have prejudiced the respondent's interests); Ali v. Gonzales, 440 F.3d 678, 682 (5th Cir.2006) (finding prejudice cannot be presumed for violations of 8 C.F.R. § 287.3); Navarro-Chalan v. Ashcroft, 359 F.3d 19, 23 n. 3 (1st Cir.2004) (same); Martinez-Camargo v. INS, 282 F.3d 487, 492 (7th Cir.2002) (finding that compliance with § 287.3(a) is not constitutionally mandated and therefore prejudice cannot be presumed); Mosqueda-Araujo v. Gonzales, 135 Fed.Appx. 87, 88 (9th Cir.2005) (unpublished) (same). Puc-Ruiz has not shown that the alleged regulatory violations potentially affected the outcome of his deportation proceeding. In his brief, Puc-Ruiz contends that he was intimidated by Agent Othic because Agent Othic was the agent responsible for placing Puc-Ruiz in ICE custody, and had a different ICE agent conducted the second interview, Puc-Ruiz would not have divulged any information about his national origin and citizenship. Similarly, he claims that had he been informed that any statements he made could be used against him in future proceedings, he would have remained silent during his interviews with Agent Othic. And had he been provided with a list of legal service providers, he would have obtained counsel, who would have advised him not to answer Agent Othic's questions. Under none of these hypothetical scenarios would the outcome of Puc-Ruiz's deportation proceeding have been different, however. To meet its burden of establishing removability by clear and convincing evidence, 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(3), the government must only show identity and alienage; then the burden shifts to the alien to prove he is lawfully present in the United States pursuant to a prior admission, 8 U.S.C. §§ 1229a(c)(2), 1361; see also Almeida-Amaral, 461 F.3d at 234. Critically, Puc-Ruiz cannot demonstrate that ICE would have failed to discover his alienage or immigration status absent his statements to Agent Othic while in ICE custody. Assuming, without deciding, that Puc-Ruiz is correct in identifying Agent Othic as the arresting officer for purposes of 8 C.F.R. § 287.3, any regulatory violations by ICE agents must necessarily have occurred after Puc-Ruiz was transferred to ICE custody. Since 8 C.F.R. § 287.3(a) directs that, if possible, the alien should be examined by an officer other than the arresting officer, any violation of the regulation must necessarily have occurred after Puc-Ruiz had been taken into ICE custody by Agent Othic. Similarly, because 8 C.F.R. § 287.3(c) requires that the examining officer give certain information and warnings, any violation would have had to occur after Puc-Ruiz was in ICE custody. But the record indicates that Puc-Ruiz had already admitted his alienage and illegal status to Agent Othic during the telephonic interview that occurred while Puc-Ruiz was in the custody of the St. Charles police. Thus, the second interview, during which Agent Othic memorialized Puc-Ruiz's prior statements on the Form I-213, did not generate any additional information. See Martinez-Camargo, 282 F.3d at 492 (reaching the same conclusion on similar facts). Further, even if Puc-Ruiz had never made any statement to Agent Othic, ICE could have established Puc-Ruiz's removability from the routine booking information collected by the St. Charles police. For example, Agent Othic could have run Puc-Ruiz's name through the same records checks, which would have produced the same computerized IDENT record showing that Puc-Ruiz is a Mexican citizen who had previously elected voluntary departure after an encounter with immigration authorities in 1998. Thus, Puc-Ruiz has not demonstrated prejudice, and we therefore conclude that if BIA erred in finding that ICE did not violate any agency regulations, the error was harmless.