Thongvilay v. Field Office Director, San Francisco Field Office ( 2024 )

1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 PAMOT THONGVILAY, Case No. 23-cv-05724-TLT 8 Petitioner, ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE v. 9 10 FIELD OFFICE DIRECTOR, SAN FRANCISCO FIELD OFFICE, et al., 11 Respondents. 12 13 INTRODUCTION 14 Petitioner has filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 seeking federal habeas relief from his 15 continued detention by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Because 16 the petition states cognizable grounds for federal habeas relief, a response from respondents is 17 warranted. 18 BACKGROUND 19 The following facts come from the petition. Petitioner, a noncitizen, is currently detained 20 at the Mesa Verde Detention Center in Bakersfield. Petitioner was born in Laos and entered the 21 United States in 1980 as a refugee, becoming a lawful permanent resident in 1982. He was 22 convicted of first degree murder and second degree burglary in 1996. He was detained by ICE on 23 or around June 28, 2023 and has remained in ICE custody since that date. He was ordered 24 removed on July 12, 2023 and did not appeal the order. He has cooperated with ICE’s efforts to 25 deport him to Laos, but removal is unlikely because Laos does not have a repatriation agreement 26 with the United States. He challenges his continued detention as in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 27 1231(a)(6). 1 District courts have habeas jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241 to hear statutory and 2 constitutional challenges to post-removal-period immigration detention. Zadvydas v. Davis, 533 3 U.S. 678, 688 (2001). Courts shall “award the writ or issue an order directing the respondent to 4 show cause why the writ should not be granted, unless it appears from the application that the 5 applicant or person detained is not entitled thereto.” Id. § 2243. 6 Petitioner’s challenge to his continued detention does not appear to be without merit. 7 Section 1231(a)(6) “does not permit indefinite detention.” Zadvydas, 533 U.S. at 689. “[I]f 8 removal is not reasonably foreseeable, the court should hold continued detention unreasonable and 9 no longer authorized by statute” and should condition release “on any of the various forms of 10 supervised release that are appropriate in the circumstances.” Id. at 699-700. Post-removal 11 detention is presumptively constitutional for six months. Id. at 701. After six months, if the non- 12 citizen “provides good reason to believe that there is no significant likelihood of removal in the 13 reasonably foreseeable future, the Government must respond with evidence sufficient to rebut that 14 showing.” Id. Petitioner has provided good reason, and the Government must therefore respond. 15 CONCLUSION 16 1. The Clerk shall serve a copy of this order, the petition, and all attachments thereto 17 on respondents and respondents’ counsel. The Clerk shall also send a copy of the petition to 18 the Attorney General of the United States in Washington, DC, and to petitioner. 19 2. Respondent shall file with this Court and serve upon petitioner, within sixty (60) days of 20 the issuance of this Order, an answer an answer responding to the allegation of the petition 21 and showing cause why a writ of habeas corpus should not be issued. Respondents shall file with 22 the answer a copy of all documents that are relevant to a determination of the issues presented by 23 the petition. 24 3. If petitioner wishes to respond to the Answer, he shall do so by filing a Traverse with the 25 Court and serving it on respondent within sixty (60) days of his receipt of the Answer. Should 26 petitioner fail to do so, the petition will be deemed submitted and ready for decision sixty (60) 27 days after the date petitioner is served with respondent’s Answer. 1 the issuance of this Order, a motion to dismiss on procedural grounds in lieu of an Answer. If 2 || respondent files such a motion, petitioner shall file with the Court and serve on respondent an 3 opposition or statement of non-opposition to the motion within sixty (60) days of receipt of the 4 || motion, and respondent shall file with the Court and serve on petitioner a reply within fourteen 5 (14) days of receipt of any opposition. 6 5. Itis petitioner’s responsibility to prosecute this case. Petitioner must keep the Court 7 informed of any change of address by filing a separate paper captioned “Notice of Change of 8 || Address.” He must comply with the Court’s orders in a timely fashion. Failure to do so may 9 || result in the dismissal of this action for failure to prosecute pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil 10 Procedure 41(b). 11 6. Upon a showing of good cause, requests for a reasonable extension of time will be granted 12 || provided they are filed on or before the deadline they seek to extend. 5 13 7. The Court notes that the filing fee has been paid. IT IS SO ORDERED. 3 15 Dated: January 8, 2024 16 18 TRINA MPSON United States District Judge 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28