Gonzalez Chavez v. Becerra et al

Filing 35

ORDER TRANSFERRING CASE to the Eastern District of California. Signed by Judge P. Casey Pitts on 8/28/2024. (nmc, COURT USER) (Filed on 8/28/2024) [Transferred from cand on 8/30/2024.]

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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ELIAZAR GONZALEZ CHAVEZ,
Plaintiff,

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MOISES BECERRA, et al.,
Defendants.

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

ORDER TO TRANSFER

v.

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Case No. 23-cv-03152-PCP

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Petitioner Gonzalez Chavez brings this petition for writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C.

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§ 2241 challenging his confinement of more than two and a half years at the Golden State Annex

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(GSA), a private immigration detention facility located in the Eastern District of California. Dkt.

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No. 1. Gonzalez Chavez is detained pursuant to 8 U.S.C. 1226(c), which requires indefinite civil

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detention without an individualized bond hearing during removal proceedings for individuals with

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certain prior criminal convictions. Gonzalez Chavez contends that his continued detention violates

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the Fifth Amendment because it has become punitive and he has never been afforded the

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procedural protections required before punishment may be imposed. See United States v. Torres,

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995 F.3d 695, 708 (9th Cir. 2021). Even if his detention has not become punitive, Gonzalez

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Chavez asserts that procedural due process requires an individualized bond hearing. Dkt. No. 1, at

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After Gonzalez Chavez filed his initial petition, the Ninth Circuit held that this Court lacks

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jurisdiction over habeas petitions from similarly situated immigrant detainees being detained

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outside the Northern District of California. See Doe v. Garland, 109 F.4th 1188, 1190 (9th Cir.

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2024). In Doe, the Ninth Circuit held that an immigrant detainee confined at GSA can file a

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habeas petition only in the Eastern District of California, the district of his confinement. Doe, 109

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F.4th. at 1198. This Court thereafter requested supplemental briefing regarding the application of

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the Ninth Circuit’s decision to this case. Dkt. No. 32.

United States District Court
Northern District of California

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Gonzalez Chavez does not contend that this Court retains jurisdiction over his petition.

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Instead, he asks the Court to transfer his case to the Eastern District of California. Under 28

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U.S.C. 1406(a), a district court may, in the interest of justice, transfer a case to any district in

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which the action could have been brought. Petitioner contends that under Doe, his case could have

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been brought in the Eastern District of California because it is the district of his confinement. Dkt.

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No. 34 at 3.

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The government opposes transfer and maintains that dismissal is the only appropriate

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remedy because petitioner did not name as a respondent to the current petition his immediate

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custodian, the Facility Administrator of GSA. Dkt. No. 33 at 4. Doe held that, under Rumsfeld v.

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Padilla, 543 U.S. 426 (2004), a habeas petitioner must name his immediate custodian as

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respondent and the immediate custodian for detainees held at GSA is the Facility Administrator.

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Doe, 109 F.4th 1197.

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The Court does not agree that petitioner’s mere failure to name the appropriate respondent

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requires dismissal instead of transfer. The Ninth Circuit has recognized that, upon transfer of a

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habeas petition to a court with jurisdiction, the petitioner can be afforded the opportunity to make

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“necessary amendments to perfect the form of the habeas petition.” Cruz-Aguilera, 245 F.3d at

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1073, n.2; see also Lopez-Marroquin v. Barr, 955 F.3d 759, 760 (9th Cir. 2020) (allowing transfer

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of a habeas petition where petitioner did not name his immediate custodian as respondent); Ashley

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v. Washington, 394 F.2d 125, 126 n.1 (9th Cir. 1968) (noting that failure to name custodian as

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respondent “could be cured by amendment”); Stanley v. California Supreme Court, 21 F.3d 359,

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360 (9th Cir. 1994) (instructing district court to allow petitioner the opportunity to amend his

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petition to name the correct respondent).

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The Eastern District of California is the appropriate court to hear this case under Doe, and

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transfer, rather than dismissal, serves the interests of justice. The Ninth Circuit “take[s] a broad

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view of when transfer is appropriate, recognizing that ‘normally transfer will be in the interest of

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justice because normally dismissal of an action that could be brought elsewhere is time-consuming
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and justice-defeating.’” Amity Rubberized Pen Co. v. Mkt. Quest Grp. Inc., 793 F.3d 991, 996 (9th

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Cir. 2015) (quoting Miller v. Hambrick, 905 F.2d 259, 262 (9th Cir. 1990)). Where a party has

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brought an action in good faith, “[t]ransfer serves as a means to prevent the injustice of penalizing

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a party for an honest procedural mistake.” Amity, 793 F.3d at 996; see also Cruz-Aguilera v.

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I.N.S., 245 F.3d 1070 (9th Cir. 2001) (stating that the court “should not fault” petitioner’s decision

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to file his habeas petition in the incorrect court “given the complicated jurisdictional questions” at

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issue). There is no reason to further delay prompt resolution of this petition and penalize Gonzalez

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Chavez for his good-faith mistake in choosing to file his petition in this court, especially given that

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the Ninth Circuit had not yet decided that this Court lacked jurisdiction over such petitions at the

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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time of filing.
For the foregoing reasons, this case is transferred to the Eastern District of California. All
pending motions and requests can be addressed by that court upon transfer.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: August 28, 2024

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P. Casey Pitts
United States District Judge

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