Buquer v. City of IndianapolisBuquer v. City of Indianapolis
ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION
This matter is before the Court on Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction [Docket No. 14], filed on May 26, 2011, pursuant to
The legislation under review here, as adopted by the Indiana General Assembly, mirrors a spate of similar laws recently enacted (and challenged in their respective courts) by the states of Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Utah and Arizona. Regarding each of these statutes, the ostensible underlying purpose is the same: all represent attempts by the states to offset in various ways difficulties that have arisen within their jurisdictions from the perceived failures of the federal government to deal more effectively with the broad problem of illegal immigration. In their attempts to fashion laws to advance this purpose, these states have tended to impose a variety of restrictions on immigrants — some in this country legally, some not — and on businesses who would hire them or conduct other commercial affairs with such persons located or otherwise living within their borders. Tacitly acknowledging that immigration matters are primarily committed to the federal government to regulate, the states’ enactments reflect what in some instances appear to
Plaintiffs’ Complaint challenges the constitutionality of these two sections of SEA 590. Their accompanying Motion for Preliminary Injunction seeks to have the Court enjoin the State of Indiana from enforcing them until a final determination can be made by the Court both as to their constitutionality, arguing that the challenged sections are not only unconstitutional under the Fourth Amendment and due process provisions, and because they run afoul of federal presumption principles as attempts to, regulate immigration, an exclusively federal concern. Oral arguments were heard on June 20, 2011. Having considered the parties’ briefing and oral arguments, thе undisputed documentary evidence, and the controlling principles of law, the Court now GRANTS Plaintiffs’ motion for injunctive relief.
Factual Background
I. Federal Immigration Regulation
In 1952, Congress enacted the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”), 66 Stat. 163, as amended,
In certain limited situations, federal law permits the delegation of authority to enforce civil immigration law to state and local law enforcement. For example, DHS is permitted to enter into written agreements (known as “287(g) agreements”) with states or any political subdivision of a state to allow appropriately trained and supеrvised officers or employees of the state or subdivision to perform certain immigration responsibilities.
II. Section 19
Section 19 of the Act amends Indiana Code § 35-33-1-1(1), by adding new sections (a)(ll)-(a)(13), which provide as follows:
(a) A law enforcement officer may arrest a person when the officer has:
(11) a removal order issued for the person by an immigration court;
(12) a detainer or notice of action for the person issued by the United States Department of Homeland Security; or
(13) probable cause to believe that the person has been indicted for or convicted of one (1) or more aggravatedfelonies (as defined in 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43)).
An understanding of the material phrases incorporated in this statute is necessary; that discussion ensues:
A. Removal Order
The INA contains provisions which,
inter alia,
set forth the conditions under which a foreign national may be admitted to and remain in the United States, establish civil penalties and criminal sanctions for immigration violations, and grant DHS the discretion to place non-citizens into removal proceedings for various actions.
See, e.g.,
If the Attorney General of the United States issues a warrant after removal proceedings have been initiated against an individual under federal law, that person may be arrested and detained pending a final removal decision.
B. Detainer
If federal or local law enforcement informs ICE that an alien is in custody on non-immigration related charges, ICE may issue a detainer requesting that the law enforcement agency hold the individual for up to 48 hours (not including weekend days and holidays) beyond the time that the detainee would otherwise be released in order to allow ICE to assume custody, if it chooses to do so.
C. Notice of Action
The standard form that fеderal immigration authorities utilize to inform individuals with pending petitions of any sort before the agency of the status of their cases is known as the Notice of Action Form, Form 1-797. This form may be used to notify a person of a wide variety of administrative actions, including that a petition or application with the agency has been received, that a decision has been made on a petition or application, and may even be
D. Aggravated Felonies
The INA provides that an alien convicted of an “aggravated felony” is subject to removal and may not receive asylum in the United States, become a citizen, lawfully reenter the United States, or have removal orders cancelled by thе Attorney General.
III. Section 18
Section 18 of the Act, to be codified as Indiana Code § 34-28-8.2, provides: Chapter 8.2. Offenses Related to Consular Identification
See. 1. As used in this chapter, “consular identification” means an identification, other than a passport, issued by the government of a foreign state for the purpose of providing consular services in the United States to a national of the foreign state.
Sec. 2. (a) This section does not apply to a law enforcement officer who is presented with a consular identification during the investigation of a crime.
(b) Except as otherwise provided under federal law, a person who knowingly or intentionally offers, accepts, or records a consular identification as a valid form of identification for any purpose commits a Class C infraction. However, the person commits:
(1) a Class B infraction for a second offense; and
(2) a Class A infraction for a third or subsequent offense.
Consular Identification Documents (“CIDs”):
The Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (“VCCR”), to which the United States is a signatory, provides,
inter alia,
that a foreign consulate may issue travel documents, visas, or other appropriate documents to protect and assist its citizens in the foreign country. Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and Optional Protocol on Disputes, Art. 5(a), (d), (e), T.I.A.S. No. 6820, 21 U.S.T. 77,
Under the VCCR, a foreign national arrested or detained in the United States must be advised of his or her right to request that appropriate consular officials be timely notified of the individual’s detention. Thus, individuals can use CIDs to alert federal, state, and local law enforcement authorities of the need to notify consular officials when assistance is required. Cardholders also commonly use CIDs for identification purposes, such as with financial institutions, law enforcement agencies, and state and local governments in the United States, as well as for other transactions that require photo identification, including cashing checks, renting housing, or enrolling children in school, especially when no other forms of photo identification are available to them for their use.
The parties stipulate that limitations or restrictions on the use of these documents in connection with official state matters is a permissible exercise of state governmental authority. As for thе non-state governmental uses, however, the parties here disagree as to their lawfulness.
IV. Background on the Named Plaintiffs
Ingrid Buquer is a Mexican citizen who resides in Johnson County (Indiana) and also spends a significant amount of time in Marion County. She has applied for a U-Visa as a victim of, or a witness to, a violent crime, which, if granted, will allow her to remain in the United States.
See
Louisa Adair is a citizen of Nigeria who currently resides in Marion County. Ms. Adair had a removal order issued against her in 1996, but she is currently released by ICE on an Order of Supervision, under which she reports to ICE every six months. She has been issued a valid work authorization document from DHS and she receives a 1-797 Notice of Action each time she applies to renew her employment authorization card. Ms. Adair has filed a Motion to Reopen and Terminate Removal Proceedings and has also made a formal request that the ICE Chief Counsel’s office exercise its prosecutorial discretion and join in her in that motion. If her request is granted, she will be eligible to apply for lawful permanent residency because her mother is a citizen of the United States and Ms. Adair possesses an approved and current 1-130 visa petition. Ms. Adair also received an 1-797 Notice of Action approving the 1-130 petition that establishes her relationship to her citizen-mother. Plaintiffs contend that, because Ms. Adair has received both а removal order and various Notice of Action forms, she will be subject to warrantless arrest by Indiana law enforcement officers when and if Section 19 goes into effect on July 1, 2011.
Legal Analysis
I. Standard of Review
The grant of injunctive relief is appropriate if the moving party is able to demonstrate: (1) a reasonable likelihood of succeeding on the merits; (2) irreparable harm if preliminary relief is denied; and (3) an inadequate remedy at law.
Girl Scouts of Manitou Council, Inc. v. Girl Scouts of the United States of America, Inc.,
In determining whether to grant injunctive relief, the district court must take into account all four of these factors and then “exercise its discretion ‘to arrive at a decision based on the subjective evaluation of the import of the various factors and a personal, intuitive sense about the nature of the case.’ ”
Id.
(quoting
Lawson Products, Inc. v. Avnet, Inc.,
II. Likelihood of Success on the Merits
A. Section 19
1. Standing
Defendants initially contend that all three named Plaintiffs lack standing to sue, having failed to show that they are under threat of suffering any injury because they have failed to establish with certainty that they will be subject to arrest under Section 19 when and if it becomes effective. To have standing to seek injunctive relief, “a plaintiff must show that he is under threat of suffering ‘injury in fact’
Mr. Urtiz: Defendants argue that Mr. Urtiz lacks standing to challenge the constitutionality of Section 19 because he has neither been indicted for nor convicted of an aggravated felony as Plaintiffs allege.
1
Specifically, Defendants contend that, because all but two days of Mr. Urtiz’s court-ordered two-year sentence in the Indiana Department of Correction was suspended to probation, he fails to meet the one-year minimum term of imprisonment required for a theft offense to constitute an aggravated felony under
Defendants also argue that Mr. Urtiz does not fall within the terms of Section 19’s proscriptions for the additional reason that his conviction for an aggravated felony was subsequently vacated and reduced to a misdemeanor. However, Section 19 specifically authorizes the arrest of anyone for whom an officer has probable cause to believe
“has been ...
convicted of one (1) or more aggravated felonies.”
Ms. Adair and Ms. Buquer: Ms. Adair has received a removal order from immigration. Defendants argue that Ms. Adair nonetheless lacks standing to challenge Indiana Code
Defendants argue that neither Ms. Adair nor Ms. Buquer has standing to challenge Indiana Code
It is true that none of the Plaintiffs has yet suffered a direct injury based on Section 19 because, obviously, the statute is
not yet in effect. However, it is well established that “the existence of a statute implies a threat to prosecute [and thus] pre-enforcement challenges are proper, because a probability of future injury counts as ‘injury’ for the purpose of standing.”
Bauer v. Shepard,
2. Ripeness
In related fashion, Defendants maintain that Plaintiffs’ challenge to Section 19 is not ripe for adjudication. Defendants argue that Plaintiffs are unable to point to a specific threat of the application of the Act, and, because the nature and sсope of its application have not yet been developed, any determination by the Court regarding its constitutionality would be premature.
To determine whether a case is ripe for adjudication, a court must determine “first, whether the relevant issues are sufficiently focused so as to permit judicial resolution without further factual development; and second, whether the parties would suffer any hardship by the
Plaintiffs argue that the second factor is also met because, absent judicial action, they face the threat of arrest when and if Section 19 becomes effective on July 1, 2011. Defendants rejoin that, because the scope and application of Section 19 has not yet been developed, Plaintiffs’ assertion that they will be subject to arrest is nothing more than speculation based on the assumption that a non-party (a state or local law enforcement officer) will perform a wholly discretionary act, to wit, the arrest of one of the Plaintiffs, based solely on the authority granted by Section 19.
Courts have long upheld pre-enforcement challenges to various civil and criminal statutes despite the fact that the discretionary authority of government officials is present in virtually all such statutes, and it is well-established that a plaintiff need not be required to undergo arrest and prosecution before being able to challenge the constitutionality of a statute.
See, e.g., Babbitt v. UFW Nat’l Union,
As long as there is a credible threat of enforcement, the second prong of the ripeness doctrine is satisfied. Such a threat is credible “when a plaintiff’s intended conduct runs afoul of a criminal statute and the Government fails to indicate affirmatively that it will
not
enforce the statute.”
Commodity Trend Serv.,
This case is distinguishable from the circumstances presented in
Indiana Right to Life, Inc. v. Shepard,
3. Fourth Amendment and Due Process Issues
Section 19 authorizes state and local law enforcement officers to effect warrantless arrests for matters that are not crimes. Defendants concede that nothing under Indiana law makes criminal the receipt of a removal order, a notice of action or detainer, or a person’s having been indicted for or convicted of an aggravated felony. Defs.’ Resp. at 12. Defendants also concede that arrests based solely on Section 19 “could potentially be in violation of the Fourth Amendment.” Id. at 3. Nevertheless, Defendants argue that, because Plaintiffs have raised a facial challenge to the statute, the Court must presume that government officials will apply Section 19 in a constitutional manner.
“[A]n arrest is reasonable under the Fourth Amendment so long as there is probable cause to believe that
some
criminal offense has been or is being committed.”
Fox v. Hayes,
We find this interpretation entirely fanciful, however, given that it completely ignores the plain language of the statute. Section 19 expressly provides that state and local enforcement officers “may arrest” individuals for conduct that all parties stipulate and agree is not criminal. The statute contains no reference to Fourth Amendment protections nor does it include a requirement that the arrest powers granted to law enforcement officers under Section 19 be used only in circumstances in which the officer has a separate, lawful reason for the arrest. Moreover, accepting Defendants’ proposed construction would, in effect, read the statute out of existence. Apart from the exclusion of Fourth Amendment requirements regarding probable cause to arrest, Sеction 19 bestows no authority on law enforcement officers beyond the power to arrest for the non-criminal conduct enumerated therein, leaving a deafening silence as to what happens to the arrestee post his arrest. There is no mention of any requirement that the arrested person be brought forthwith before a judge for consideration of detention
In short, if the Court were to accept Defendants’ proрosed construction of the arrest powers provision, it would entail a radical rewriting of Section 19, which the Court is not empowered to do. Even if such broad interpretive powers were possible, the construction Defendants have proposed would be entirely untenable because, as we have noted above, it would render the challenged statute meaningless. Accordingly, we find that Plaintiffs have established that they are likely to succeed on the merits of their claim that Section 19 is susceptible to only one interpretation, to wit, that it authorizes the warrantless arrest of persons for matters and conduct that are not crimes. Because such power contravenes the Fourth Amendment, Section 19 would be unconstitutional. 3
4. Preemption
Plaintiffs are also likely to succeed in establishing that Section 19 is preempted by federal law. By virtue of the Supremacy Clause, it is “[a] fundamental principle of the Constitution ... that Congress has the power to preempt state law.”
Crosby v. Nat’l Foreign Trade Council,
It is true that state laws addressing legitimate local interests that only indirectly touch on immigration matters are not preempted.
See DeCanas,
For example, Section 19 authorizes arrest for any individual in receipt of a removal order. However, having a prior removal order is not proof that the person
The conflict is even more apparent with regard to Section 19’s authorization for arrest of individuals who have been issued a notice of action. Notices of action are inherently non-criminal and receipt of such a form generally merely acknowledges that the individual’s information dealing with immigration matters has been received by INS or that an immigration decision has been made. Such communications could be as innocuous as informing the recipient that a visa application has been received and is being processed or even that he or she has attained lawful alien status. Although Defendants argue that it should be presumed that state and local law enforcement officers would utilize their arrest powers only in cases where the notice of action received is “substantive” or “non-benign,” no such limitation appears in Section 19 nor are those terms defined, leaving to anyone’s guess what would constitute a “non-benign” or “substantive” notice of action or how any Indiana law enforcement officer could be expected to know the basis for such a distinction. Clearly, it is not the intent or purpose of federal immigration policy to arrest individuals merely because they have at some point had contact with an administrative agency about an immigration matter and received notice to that effect. Authorizing an arrest for nothing more than the receipt of an administrative notification plainly interferes with the federal government’s purpose of keeping those involved in immigration matters apprised of the status of their cases, but not arresting them.
Federal law specifies that the immigration penalties associated with aggravated felonies arise only if the individual has been
convicted
of the offense.
Federal immigration law consists of a myriad of provisions together creating a balance between competing regulatory and policy objectives. In order to maintain that balance throughout the country, federal law vests discretion at the federal level regarding whether and which persons without full, lawful alien status should be arrested. However, Section 19 alters that balance by authorizing the arrest for immigration matters of individuals within the
B. Section 18
1. Standing
Defendants contend that Ms. Buquer does not have standing to challenge the constitutionality of Section 18 because there is no evidence that she is unable to obtain a valid identification card from the State of Indiana or that, in fact, she has even attempted to do so, thereby failing to establish that she will bе subject to Indiana Code § 34-28-8.2. However, Ms. Buquer testified by affidavit that she is unable to obtain an identification card or a driver’s license from the State of Indiana because she does not possess any of the requisite documents for doing so. Buquer Aff. ¶ 8; Buquer Supp. Aff. ¶ 2. Thus, Ms. Buquer has presented sufficient evidence to show that she will be subject to Section 18, if and when it goes into effect on July 1, 2011, which is sufficient to confer standing on her claim.
2. Preemption
Plaintiffs argue that Section 18 interferes with rights bestowed on foreign nations by treaty as well as with the federal government’s responsibilities for the conduct of foreign relations, and is thus preempted. Defendants rejoin that the statute does not directly conflict with any treaty nor does it impede the federal government’s ability to manage 'foreign affairs, because Section 18 is merely an internal regulation outlining acceptable forms of identification within the State of Indiana that does not single out or conflict with any identifiable immigration policy or regulation.
Issuing CIDs is one of the prerogatives of a foreign government that is protected by the Vienna Convention of Consular Relations (‘VCCR”), to which the United Stаtes is a signatory. Defendants maintain that Section 18 does not conflict with the VCCR because it does not prevent a consulate from issuing a CID or from accepting a CID at the consulate itself. It is true that Section 18 does not prohibit a foreign government from issuing CIDs to its citizens, and thus does not directly conflict with the VCCR. However, while Section 18 does not prohibit a consulate from issuing CIDs, it in essence makes their issuance meaningless as it prohibits almost every use for which the documents are ordinarily issued, including for identification purposes in private commercial transactions that are conducted between private parties. In light of this drastic limitation imposed by Section 18, we are unable to dismiss the statute’s impact as inconsequential. Rather, it appears that the statute directly interferes with rights bestowed on foreign nations by treaty.
It is also clear that such a sweeping prohibition has the potential to directly interfere with executive discretion in the foreign affairs field. The executive branch’s authority over matters of foreign affairs is an implied constitutional power.
Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer,
Additionally, the United States Treasury Department has adopted regulations which, though not requiring financial institutions to accept CIDs and other foreign government-issued documents for identification purposes, allow such entities to do so, and has specifically declined to prohibit financial institutions from relying on particular forms of foreign government-issued identification.
See
Defendants cite to cases in which courts have found state laws not preempted which deal with matters of traditional state regulation and had only an indirect impact on foreign policy.
See Dunbar v. Seger-Thomschitz,
The problem with Defendants’ argument here is that Section 18 is anything but a neutral law of general application that just happens to have a remote and indirect effect on foreign relations. Rather, it targets only one form of identification — CIDs issued by foreign governments. Moreover, Section 18 regulates CIDs in the broadest possible terms, restricting not just what state agencies may accept as valid identification but prohibiting what identification may be shown and accepted for purely private transactions. “A person,” the statute says, and that’s all it says. These sweeping regulations, targeted solely at foreign government-issued identification that consulates are, by treaty, entitled to issue, and which restrict the manner in which foreign citizens may travel, live, and trade in the United States
3. Due Process and Equal Protection
Plaintiffs also challenge Section 18 on due process and equal protection grounds, arguing that the statute is arbitrary and bears no rational relation to legitimate government interests. Defendants rejoin that the statute is rationally related to the legitimate government purpose of ensuring the reliability of identification of individuals within the state and preventing fraud against law enforcement, merchants, and consumers.
Under traditional due process and equal protection analysis, state action must be sustained as long as it bears a rational relation to a legitimate governmental interest.
R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul, Minn.,
While all parties agree that the State of Indiana has the authority to prohibit the use of various forms of identification, including CIDs, at state agencies, such as the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, Section 18 goes far beyond such regulation to prohibit their use or acceptance in any transaction requiring valid identification, even those between purely private parties who would otherwise be willing to accept CIDs in the context of wholly private transactions. Although Defendants maintain that there has long been a concern regarding the reliability of CIDs, Plaintiffs have presented evidence indicating that they are actually a highly secure form of identification. Upon careful review of the admittedly limited evidence before us given the prehminary stage of this litigation, we are persuaded that CIDs are, at the very least, as reliable as a number of other forms of documentation that individuals are permitted to use for certain identification purposes in Indiana, such as leases, utility bills, and student ID cards. Accordingly, the legislature’s decision to single out for punishment individuals using CIDs for identification purposes from all other individuals, many of whom are using other, arguably more unreliable forms of identification simply does not rationally further the goal of the prevention of fraud or otherwise ensure the reliability of identification. Regrettably in our view, the distinction more accurately appears to have been designed simply to target foreign nationals. As the Supreme Court has recognized, “if the constitutional conception of ‘equal protection of the laws’ means anything, it must at the very least mean that a bare congressional desire to harm a politically unpopular group cannot constitute a legitimate governmental interest.”
United States Dep’t of Agriculture v. Moreno,
III. Irreparable Harm/Inadequate Remedy at Law
Plaintiffs have met their burden on both of these prongs of the preliminary injunc
IV. Balance of Harms
We have already found that Plaintiffs will suffer irreparable harm if a preliminary injunction does not issue. In contrast, Defendants will suffer minimal, if any, harm by allowing the status quo to be maintained pending a final determination in this matter, since these areas addressed by the new and soon to be enjoined state law will remain under federal controls and authority. Thus, the balance of harms weighs clearly in Plaintiffs’ favor.
V. Public Interest
Plaintiffs have also established that a preliminary injunction is in the public interest. It is well-established under controlling Seventh Circuit law that “the public has a strong interest in the vindication of an individual’s constitutional rights ....”
O’Brien v. Town of Caledonia,
VI. Bond
VII. Conclusion
For the foregoing reasons, we GRANT Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction. Defendants are hereby PRELIMINARILY ENJOINED from enforcing the following sections of Senate Enrolled Act 590: Section 18, to be codified as Indiana Code § 34-28-8.2, and Section 19, which amends Indiana Code § 35-33-1-1(1), by adding new sections (a)(ll)-(a)(13) until further order of this Court. Defendants are hereby further ordered to inform forthwith all the affected Indiana state governmental entities of this injunction.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Notes
. As laid out above, pursuant to Indiana Code § 35 — 33—1—1 (l)(a)(13), a law enforcement officer may arrest a person when the officer has “probable cause to believe that the person has been indicted fоr or convicted of one (1) or more aggravated felonies (as defined in
. The terms “benign” and "non-benign” do not appear in the statute; their use here re-fleets the adversarial effort by defense counsel to salvage their standing arguments.
. Defendants make a passing argument that it is as yet undetermined whether the Fourth Amendment even applies to undocumented aliens. However, we read the caselaw to say otherwise. Following the Supreme Court’s decision in
Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Lopez-Mendoza,
. Pursuant to
(1) is an alien illegally present in the United States; and
(2) has previously been convicted of a felony in the United States and deported or left the United States after such conviction, but only after the State or local law enforcement officials obtain appropriate confirmation from the Immigration and Naturalization Service of the status of such individual and only for such period of time as may be required for the Service to take the individual into Federal custody for purposes of deporting or removing the alien from the United States.
. Under
who in his presence or view is entering or attempting to enter the United States in violation of any law or regulation made in pursuance of law regulating the admission, exclusion, expulsion, or removal of aliens, or to arrest any alien in the United States, if he has reason to believe that the alien so arrested is in the United States in violation of any such law or regulation and is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained for his arrest, but the alien arrested shall be taken without unnecessary delay for examination' before an officer of the Service having authority to examine aliens as to their right to enter or remain in the United States.
. The risk that a state law could result in similar retaliatory actions by foreign governments is no less a concern. The potential impact that Section 18 has on the United States' relationship and dealings with foreign countries is reflected in the concerns raised by Mexico, Brazil, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Colombia in their amicus curiae briefs filed in this action.