Court Opinion

ID: 9719204
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 07:45:48.441037+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:24:05.166405
License: Public Domain

REYNOSO, J. —
I dissent. The majority faces, and incorrectly decides, the issue of local police authority to arrest an alien for violation of the immigration statutes of 8 United States Code section 13251 (misdemeanor for an alien to enter the country illegally) and section 13262 (felony for an alien to reenter the country, without permission from the United States Attorney General, after a formal deportation).
*1014The basis of my dissent is two-fold: First, we deal with a manifestly important policy as it affects the relation of our country to foreign nations, particularly those countries at our borders. In turn, the policy affects the relation of local police to resident citizens and aliens. The majority’s holding that local officers can arrest on the basis of alienage misinterprets the national legislative scheme. Second, I dissent on the peculiar facts of this case. I conclude that the local police officer had no probable cause to arrest defendant. On this record, as a matter of law, the Immigration and Naturalization Service agent acted unreasonably in advising the arresting local police officer that defendant had committed a felony (reentry after deportation) and was subject to arrest. Thus, the arrest was unreasonable and the evidence should have been suppressed.
I
Local police officers do not have the authority to arrest individuals suspected of being aliens present in the United States without permission from the United States Government, that is, aliens who are in violation of sections 1325 and 1326. I cite two separate but dependent reasons. First, in dealing with a delicate issue of foreign affairs the supremacy clause dictates that federal power be left “entirely free from local interference.” (Hines v. Davidowitz (1941) 312 U.S. 52 [85 L.Ed. 581, 61 S.Ct. 399].) In implementing immigration and naturalization laws, which affect foreign nations, national uniformity is required. The Constitution mandates that Congress, not the states, shall have authority. (U.S. Const., art. I, § 8, cl. 3.) Second, attempts by local police officers to enforce immigration laws ■ pose an inherent danger to United States citizens and resident aliens mistaken for illegal entrants.
1. Need for Uniformity in Dealing With Immigration and Naturalization
Because of the necessity of uniformity in the area of international relations, Congress had been granted exclusive authority to regulate and establish a uniform policy of immigration and naturalization. (U.S. Const., art. I, § 8, cls. 3-4; Fong Yue Ting v. United States (1893) 149 U.S. 698 [37 L.Ed. 905, 13 S.Ct. 1016]; Hines v. Davidowitz, supra, 312 U.S. at p. 62 [85 L.Ed. at p. 584].) The exclusivity of this federal power has been recently affirmed by the United States Supreme Court: “Control over immigration ... is entrusted exclusively to the federal government. ...” (Nyquist v. Mauclet (1977) 432 U.S. 1, 10 [53 L.Ed. 63, 71, 97 S.Ct. 2120].) Such exclusive authority includes the power to regulate immigration. (De Canas v. Bicas (1976) 424 U.S. 351, 354 [47 L.Ed.2d 43, 48, 96 S.Ct. 933].) *1015Since the power is exclusively with the federal government, no such power lies with the states. (Takahashi v. Fish Comm’n (1948) 334 U.S. 410, 419 [92 L.Ed. 1478, 1487, 68 S.Ct. 1138].)
' Unlike the majority, I conclude that the arrest and detention of aliens for violation of federal law is so clearly a matter of international relations and exclusive federal governmental activity as to effectively preclude the states from acting. “[T]he constitutional separation of the federal and state powers makes it essential that no state be permitted to exercise, without authority from Congress, those functions which it has delegated exclusively to Congress.” (Hines v. Davidowitz, supra, 312 U.S. 52, quoting from Spector Motor Service v. O’Connor (1951) 340 U.S. 602, 608 [95 L.Ed. 573, 578, 71 S.Ct. 508].) In fact, Congress has exercised its authority by enacting the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. In turn, the act created the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and entrusted to it and its agents the sole authority of enforcing the Immigration and Nationality Act.
INS regulations and internal procedure spell out the function and duty of its agents. Such agents receive intensive instruction in immigration and naturalization law; are trained in the service’s operational tactics, and receive extensive field training. Those agents who will be operating near the United States-Mexican border are required to be fluent in Spanish and are trained to be sensitive to the Mexican culture. (See, statement of Leonard F. Chapman, Jr., commissioner, Immigration and Naturalization Service in Hearings on Law Enforcement on the Southwest Border, before the Subcom. on Legislation and Military Operations of the House Com. on Gov. Operations, 93d Cong., 2d Sess. (July 10, 11, 16; Aug. 14, 1974.) p. 39.) In my view, Congress has enacted such a comprehensive scheme that states may neither contradict nor complement without specific congressional mandate.
Independent local enforcement of federal immigration and naturalization laws, outside the control of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, undermines the concept of a comprehensive and uniform enforcement scheme. Local police officers have no training or expertise in immigration and naturalization laws and regulations. These statutes and regulations are as ever changing as are those of the Department of Internal Revenue. Much of the enforcement is done by internal operating procedures. Delicate legal and factual determinations must be made distinguishing between “legal” and “illegal aliens;” among those who are “illegal” there are categories of persons who are nondeportable and *1016others who are deportable. Difficult issues of alienage appear. If a person is a citizen, he may not be deported; if he is not a citizen, he may be deported. Citizenship, in turn, often depends on the citizenship of the parents, place of birth, registry or nonregistry of the individual’s birth. Suffice it to say the complexities are not those within the competence of local enforcement officers. Attempted enforcement, by such inexpert police personnel, conflicts necessarily with the Congressional purpose and objective of uniformity. (Cf. Hines v. Davidowitz, supra, 312 U.S. 52; Ray v. Atlantic Richfield Co. (1978) 435 U.S. 151, 154 [55 L.Ed.2d 179, 186, 98 S.Ct. 998].)
Effectuation of federal immigration policy is not a matter that can be left to the vagaries of state arrest and detention law nor to the discretion of the local police officer. Even within a state, local police departments may and do operate under separate and distinct standards for arrest and detention. Thus, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department has policies respecting aliens which differ from those of the San Diego City Police Department. (See, Illegal Aliens and Enforcement: Present Practices and Proposed Legislation (1975) 8 U.C. Davis L.Rev. 127, 128.) Such erratic enforcement policies, when dealing with a federal matter, cannot be.
The relation of the power to arrest on the part of local officials to foreign affairs is underscored when heads of foreign states lodge official protests with the United States government regarding the treatment of their nationals. Such protests have been filed from time to time by the Mexican government. Local law enforcement can but exacerbate that situation. (See 8 U.C. Davis L.Rev., supra, at p. 148.)
I turn to the one statute which forms the basis for the majority’s analysis. Section 1324, subdivision (b), provides that: “all other officers” in addition to officer-employees of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, whose duty it is to “enforce criminal laws” may arrest “any persons, including the owner, operator, pilot, master, commanding officer, agent or consignee of any means of transportation who” bring aliens into this country illegally or illegally harbors them. INS and other officers are- given the power to arrest the perpetrators of the crime. That is, the “other officers whose duty it is to enforce criminal laws” are empowered to arrest a person who has committed a crime (illegally bringing in and harboring certain aliens) on the basis that that person has violated the law. Note that the basis for the arrest is not that the person *1017being arrested is an alien. If an alien is being smuggled into this country on a ship or is being assisted in wading across a river, it is quite natural that Congress would give the port authorities or other officers likely to personally observe such activities the power to act under those narrowly prescribed exigent circumstances.
It is on this very narrow ground that Congress has authorized agents, other than INS, to arrest. In fact, the statute merely authorizes those officers to act respecting a criminal act as they would act respecting any other criminal act. I again note that the arrest is not on the basis of alienage. Such arrests can affect the relationship of this country to others and it is found within the immigration and naturalization statutory scheme. Accordingly, it is an “exception” wherein Congress has specifically and expressly authorized the non-INS officers to act.
The Immigration and Nationality Act nowhere authorizes arrest by local police on the basis of alienage. The majority would have us believe that this overwhelming silence in the entire act is corrected by section 1324 and that we must infer that Congress intended local officers to be able to enforce all federal immigration violations. In view of the supremacy argument and the need for uniformity, the majority’s conclusion is untenable. Rules of statutory construction dictate a result exactly opposite that reached by the majority. Where in one part of the statute Congress specifies an exception to a general rule and in another omits such express provision, it means to exclude the exception. (See Passenger Corp. v. Passengers Assn. (1974) 414 U.S. 453, 458 [38 L.Ed.2d 646, 652, 94 S.Ct. 690].) Further, “[t]here is no reason ... to assume that Congress intended to invoke by omission in [one section] the same [power] which it explicitly provided by inclusion in [another]; the reasonable inference is quite the contrary.” (Federal Trade Comm’n v. Sun Oil Co. (1963) 371 U.S. 505, 515 [9 L.Ed.2d 466, 476, 83 S.Ct. 358]; Accord, United States v. Culbert (1978) 435 U.S. 371, 378-379, fn. 9 [55 L.Ed.2d 349, 355, 98 S.Ct. 1112].)
For the above reasons the conclusion is compelled that the federal government has exclusive control over the question of when and who can arrest aliens on the basis of their alienage and that it has chosen to exclude local officers.
*10182. Danger to the United States Citizens and Resident Aliens
As has been discussed, local police officers have no training or expertise in the complexities in enforcing immigration and naturalization laws. Their awkward attempts to enforce such laws has resulted in numerous complaints of harassment from citizens and resident aliens mistaken for illegal entrants. (See, Illegal Aliens and Enforcement: Present Practices and Proposed Legislation, supra, 8 U.C. Davis L.Rev. 127, 144.) Such incidents, oftimes outrageous in character, are reported by the media with unfortunate regularity. One such practice came to the attention of the federal courts in United States v. Mallides (9th Cir. 1973) 473 F.2d 859, 860. There the local police apparently made it a practice to “stop ‘all cars with Mexicans in them that appear to be sitting [erect] and packed in [three in the front and three in the back].. ..’ ” (Id., at p. 860.) The Ninth Circuit Court was not amused. INS agents, themselves far more expert, have recognized the difficulty of distinguishing among citizens, resident aliens and illegal entrants. (See testimony of Raymond Farrell, commissioner, Immigration and Naturalization Service, in Hearings on Illegal Aliens before Subcom. No. 1 of the House Com. on the Judiciary, 92d Cong., 2d Sess., ser. 13, pt. 5 at p. 1308 (1972).)
The concern is, of course, that once we establish the rule for detention and arrest, the affected individuals will include many citizens and resident aliens who will be subjected to the same investigative procedures for identification purposes. California has millions of citizens of Mexican descent. Some are descendants of early day Californios who preceded the United States conquests. Others are descendants of 19th and 20th century immigrants. Yet others are recent arrivals. In a state like California, therefore, the authority to arrest in the hands of the unskilled is a danger. Even the tactics of the skilled, the INS agents, have captured the unflattering attention of Congress. One congressman reported that “I not only received written complaints but I went down into, the area [where INS searches had occurred] and I tell you, there is no greater bone of contention in Los Angeles and in San Ysidro and in National City and in Chula Vista among Americans who are of Mexican descent... they are being stopped all the time.” (8 U.C.Davis L.Rev., supra, 135, fn. 61; Hearing before the Subcom. on Immigration, Citizenship and International Law of the House Com. on the Judiciary, 93d Cong., 1st Sess., ser. 22, at p. 45 (1973).) Illegal entrants, naturally, normally live and work in areas populated by people of similar characteristics. The need for care and caution in setting down the proper rules for detention and arrest bear close scrutiny. Congress, after such scrutiny, has decided not to give such power to local officers.
*1019II
The majority holds that the police officer had probable cause to believe that defendant had committed a felony. The record, in my view, does not support that conclusion. Absent such probable cause, the arrest was unreasonable.
The issue of whether there was probable cause for the arrest was submitted to the superior court (pursuant to a Pen. Code, § 1538.5 hearing), on the preliminary hearing transcript, on the testimony of Border Patrol Officer Glen Smith and on one exhibit.
The majority holds that probable cause existed on the basis that the agent who initiated the arrest, INS Agent Kerr, had probable cause to believe that a felony had been committed. Further, the arresting officer had independent information, which coupled with that given by INS Agent Kerr, provided ample probable cause for the arrest. Such independent information was defendant’s evasive conduct during the April 28 incident.
My analysis begins with Penal Code section 836, subdivision 3. That section requires the officer to have “reasonable cause to believe that the person to be arrested has committed a felony,” whether or not a felony has in fact been committed. The record is clear that, in fact, no felony was shown. That is, the record contains no evidence that defendant had been deported prior to his reentry. Accordingly, his reentry could not be a felony.
We appear to be agreed that the officer who initiates the arrest must have probable cause to believe that a felony had been committed. I accept the majority’s premise that the initiating officer was INS Agent Kerr. I conclude that Kerr did not have probable cause to believe that a felony had been committed.
At the preliminary hearing, Agent Kerr testified that he had a file (marked People’s exh. No. 1) which he identified as “our apprehensions report.” The exhibit is not part of the record on appeal. That report, he indicated, showed that defendant had been apprehended by “us” (presumably the Immigration and Naturalization Service) on two occasions and that on the second occasion, which was on September 25, 1975, “we formally deported him to El Centro.” Accordingly, Agent Kerr testified that he told Officer Martin (the arresting officer) that “we had *1020formally deported” Barajas. On cross-examination, Agent Kerr referred to a portion of the report which mentioned a “hearing in El Centro” on October 2, 1975. I find the testimony confusing. We will agree there can be no deportation to El Centro, California. Apparently, the officer was testifying that the defendant was sent to El Centro for a deportation hearing.
The events in El Centro are picked up by the testimony of INS Agent Glen Smith at the Penal Code section 1538.5 hearing. While the deportation hearing to be held in El Centro had been set for early October, in fact defendant was given the opportunity of “voluntary departure” and on that basis left the country before the scheduled hearing date on his own, paying his own way. That is, he was never deported. Smith testified that aliens “sometimes in lieu of order of deportation ... are granted voluntary departures.” The notation in the file that defendant had departed voluntarily and had not been deported appeared in People’s exhibit No. 1 at the time Agent Kerr had the file. On the basis of this record, I conclude, as a matter of law, that there was no reasonable cause to believe that defendant had committed a felony. No reasonable officer could have so concluded. The testimony of Agent Kerr is puzzling but the facts are clear.3
Finally, the allegedly buttressing information was gathered during an incident (defendant was given a citation) which took place prior to the arrest which is the subject of this appeal. That “information” is the evasive response of defendant to questions pertaining to his name and residence. The information, the majority holds, provided probable cause to arrest defendant. However, this reasoning is premised on the propriety of the arrest based on defendant’s alienage. Since, in my view, no such power lies, I cannot agree that “evasive conduct” can provide reasonable cause.
Defendant’s motion to suppress evidence should have been granted. First, the local arresting officer had no authority to arrest on the basis of *1021defendant’s alienage. Second, there was no reasonable cause for defendant’s arrest. Accordingly, the trial court erred in its failure to suppress the illegally obtained evidence.
Appellant’s petition for a hearing by the Supreme Court was denied September 7, 1978. Bird, C. J., Tobriner, J., and Mosk, J., were of the opinion that the petition should be granted.

Unless otherwise noted all references are to 8 United States Code. Section 1325 reads as follows: “Any alien who (1) enters the United States at any time or place other than as designated by immigration officers, or (2) eludes examination or inspection by immigration officers, or (3) obtains entry to the United States by a willfully false or misleading representation or the willful concealment of a material fact, shall, for the first commission of any such offenses, be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof be punished by imprisonment for not more than six months, or by a fine of not more than $500, or by both, and for a subsequent commission of any such offenses shall be guilty of a felony and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than two years, or by a fine of not more than $1,000, or both.”

Section 1326 reads as follows: “Any alien who—
“(1) has been arrested and deported or excluded and deported, and thereafter “(2) enters, attempts to enter, or is at any time found in, the United States, unless (A) prior to his reembarkation at a place outside the United States or his application for admission from foreign contiguous territory, the Attorney General has expressly consented to such alien’s reapplying for admission; or (B) with respect to an alien previously excluded and deported, unless such alien shall establish that he was not required to obtain such advance consent under this chapter or any prior Act, shall be guilty of a felony, and upon conviction thereof, be punished by imprisonment of not more than two years, or by a fine of not more than $1,000, or both.”

A warrantless arrest could have been made by Agent Kerr (or an officer on his behalf) if there was reasonable cause to believe that defendant was likely to flee jurisdiction. (§ 1357.) However, Agent Kerr testified that he had no knowledge that defendant was likely to flee. Thus, there appears to be no basis for the arrest.
The mere assumption that an illegal entry has taken place is not sufficient grounds for arrest. (See United States v. Doyle (2d Cir. 1950) 181 F.2d 479, 480.) It is a rare case, not including this case, where a police officer will have probable cause to arrest for violation of section 1326. Such probable cause requires knowledge that a prior deportation has occurred.