Perez Cruz v. Barr, No. 15-70530 (9th Cir. 2019)
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ICE agents were not permitted to carry out preplanned mass detentions, interrogations, and arrests at a factory, without individualized reasonable suspicion. The Ninth Circuit granted a petition for review of the BIA's decision affirming the IJ's order of removal against petitioner and dismissal of his appeal. The panel rejected the government's argument that the evidence was sufficient to prove that petitioner's removability was not suppressible.
On the merits, the panel held that petitioner's seizure was not a justified detention under Michigan v. Summers, 452 U.S. 692 (1981), which held that a warrant to search for contraband founded on probable cause implicitly carries with it the limited authority to detain the occupants of the premises while a proper search is conducted. The panel held that Summers' categorical authority to detain incident to the execution of a search warrant does not extend to a preexisting plan whose central purpose is to detain, interrogate, and arrest a large number of individuals without individualized reasonable suspicion. Therefore, the agents violated 8 C.F.R. 287.8(b)(2) by detaining and questioning petitioner, and petitioner was entitled to suppression of the evidence gathered as a result of that violation. Finally, the panel held that the proceedings against petitioner should be terminated without prejudice.
Court Description: Immigration. Granting Gregorio Perez Cruz’s petition for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals, the panel held that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were not permitted to carry out preplanned mass detentions, interrogations, and arrests at a factory, without individualized reasonable suspicion, and reversed and remanded to the BIA with instructions to dismiss Perez Cruz’s removal proceedings without prejudice. During the execution of a search warrant for employment-related documents located at the factory where Perez Cruz worked, he was detained, interrogated, and arrested for immigration violations, along with approximately 130 other workers. He was subsequently placed in removal proceeding and charged with entry without inspection. Based on statements he provided during his detention, ICE prepared a Form I-213, alleging that Perez Cruz had admitted that he was brought illegally into the United States as a child. The government also produced Perez Cruz’s birth certificate based on statements he provided in connection with the factory raid. Perez Cruz moved to terminate the proceedings or, in the alternative, suppress evidence, but the BIA concluded that his detention and interrogation violated neither the agency’s regulation nor the Fourth Amendment.
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