Mclaren v. Holder et al

Filing 5

MEMORANDUM. Signed by Judge George Jarrod Hazel on 2/4/2015. (kns, Deputy Clerk)(c/m 2/4/15)

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IN TIlE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND

FEB - 4 Z015

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A10REENQELT

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DAVID McLAREN

EII1£REO
~I£CEIVED

et£Rl< U,S, [)lOTRICT COURT
DISl1\iCT OF MARYl.ANO

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Petitioner

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ER1C H. HOLDER.
DOTTIE HERRERA.NILES.
JOHN ALDERMAN.
CHARLES RICCIO.

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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY.

And GARRY MUMFORD. Warden
Respondents

Civil Action No, GJH.14.3866

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MEMORANDUM
The Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus. tiled pursuant to 28 U.S.c. *2241. alleges that
Petitioner is improperly detained pending removal to Jamaica.

ECF 1. Petitioner has been

detained in the Worcester County Jail in Snow Hill. Maryland in the custody of Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE) since February 27. 2014.

Petitioner asserts his detention has

surpassed the period of time considered reasonable under the holding in Za"\~l'''as \', Davis. 533
U.S. 678 (2001).
Respondents Iiled an Answer to the Petition for Writ of IIabeas Corpus indicating that
travel documents have been secured lar Petitioner's removal to Jamaica and moving to deny the
petition.

ECF 4.

For the reasons stated below. the Petition shall be denied and Petitioner's

removal shall not be stayed.
Respondents state that Petitioner is a citizen of Jamaica who was in the United States
without legal authority.

A tinal order lar Petitioner's removal was issued on March 29. 2007.

Petitioner was taken into custody by ICE on February 27. 2014. after he was arrested in Prince

lJEPlITY

George's County. Maryland on drug charges. While he has been detained Petitioner was advised
on six ditTerent occasions that he was required to assist ICE in obtaining necessary travel
documents to facilitate his return to Jamaica and that his failurc to cooperate would pennit an
extension of the removal period. Petitioner refused to cooperate on each occasion he was askcd
for assistance.

Despite Petitioner's refusal, ICE obtained travel documents from the Jamaican

Embassy on January 12. 20 IS. and Petitioner was scheduled for removal to Jamaica on January
29.2015.1

ECl' 4 at Ex. I and 2.

The decision in Zmil:rdas

1'.

Dal'is. 533 U.S. 678 (200 I) governs whether an alien's

detention pending removal is constitutional.
removal-order detention under 8 U.S.c.

In Zmil:nlas. the Supreme Court held that post-

S 1231(a)

is implicitly limited to a period reasonably

necessary to bring about the alien's removal from the United States and does not permit
indetinite detention.

In sum, the Court found that alier an order of deportation became final. an

alien may be held for a six-month period. Alier this period:
[0]nce the alien provides good reason to believe that there is no
significant likelihood of removal in the reasonably foreseeable
future. the Govemment must respond with evidence sufficient to
rebut that showing. And for detention to remain reasonable. as the
period of prior post-removal confinemcnt grows. what counts as
the 'reasonably foreseeable future' conversely would have to
shrink. This 6-month presumption, of course. does not mean that
every alien not removed must be released alier six months. To the
contrary, an alien may be held in continement until it has been
determined that there is no significant likelihood of removal in the
reasonably foreseeable future.
Zadl'ydas. 533 U.S. at 700. The purpose of detaining a deportable alien is to insure his presence
at the moment of removal. See id. at 697-99.

In cases where it is unlikely that removal will

occur, detention of the alien no longer serves this purpose. See Clark \'. Marlinez, 543 U.S. 371.

1

Petitioner was scheduled for transfer to Louisiana on January 26. 2015. ECl' 4 at Ex. I.
2

384, (2005) (where repatriation negotiations for removal of inadmissible aliens to Cuba had
ceased, removal was not reasonably foreseeable).
Respondents have provided evidence that establishes that Petitioner's removal is not only
likely, but imminent.

In fact, based on Respondent's response, removal occurred on January 29,

2015. To the extent Petitioner was detained longer than what is normally reasonable to secure his
removal to Jamaica, his own actions are the cause of that delay. Petitioner is, accordingly, not
entitled to the relief sought and the petition shall be denied by separate Order which follows.

Date

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GEORGE JARROD HAZEL
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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