Lead Opinion
These consolidated appeals present the question whether the exclusionary rule bars the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) from using in deportation proceedings evidence obtained by INS officers in violation of the Fourth Amendment. In separate proceedings, appellants were ordered deported under 8 U.S.C. § 1251(a)(2) on the basis of admissions to immigration officers that they were aliens in this country illegally. At their deportation hearings, both tried unsuccessfully to suppress evidence of their admissions on the ground they were the products of arrests made in violation of the Fourth Amendment.
We reverse Sandoval’s order of deportation because we hold that his detention by the immigration officers violated the Fourth Amendment, that the statements he made were a product of that unlawful detention, and that the exclusionary rule bars the INS from using, in deportation proceedings, evidence of statements it obtains illegally. Because the question whether Lopez’s detention violated the Fourth Amendment was not adjudicated in his deportation hearing, we vacate his order of deportation and remand for further proceedings in light of our opinion today in Sandoval.
I
On June 23, 1977, INS officers entered a potato processing plant in Pasco, Washington, where Sandoval worked, to search for illegal aliens. According to the testimony of the government’s only witness, Officer Bower, the officers did not have a search warrant, but did have permission from company officials to question some of the company employees. Bower testified that several officers surrounded the plant to guard the exits while he and another officer conducted the investigation. The two officers, one of whom wore a Border Patrol uniform, first entered the company lunch room and identified themselves. This caused great confusion among company employees, with some “heading for the exits” and others remaining in the lunch room. When the officers entered the plant itself, more employees “headed for the exits, leaving their machines, and some of those coming in turned and started walking away.” The officers then moved to the plant’s main entrance where they stood during a shift change.' There, they watched for workers “putting their heads down, turning their heads to the sides, avoiding eye contact, or trying to get into a tight group of people going through.” Anyone passing through the gate who aroused suspicion in the minds of the officers was asked innocuous questions in English about such things as the weather or pay at the plant. Then, Bower testified,' “[tjhose that couldn’t answer in English, appeared to have a dumb look on their face, didn’t know what was going on, and would almost start to move towards me as if they had known they were caught and the game was up, at that point, I would interrogate them in Spanish as to their right to be and remain in the United States.”
When examined further about his criteria for stopping and questioning those entering and exiting the plant; Bower repeated that he had looked for “evasive movements, trying to be bunched up in groups, being right next to somebody, or trying to walk in parallel with somebody to avoid being spoken to ... . ” Eventually, he concluded, he questioned those at the plant “when it [came] to the point where I firmly believe that they are an illegal alien.” He knew that point because, “[i]t is something each officer develops, some sooner than some others.” After stopping a suspected illegal alien, the investigators would ask him whether he “had papers.” Though Sandoval was stopped at the plant, Officer Bower testified that he had no specific recollection of Sandoval and that there was a “50-50 chance” that he had detained Sandoval and an equal chance that his partner had effected the detention. Bower thus did not know how Sandoval had responded to any questions he may have been asked or, indeed, whether he had responded at all.
“Because of the large number of people coming in and out of there,” those initially stopped at the plant gate whom the officers wished to question further were detained in a men’s restroom and clean-up area. There
In rejecting Sandoval’s contention that he had been seized in violation of the Fourth Amendment, the immigration judge reasoned that Sandoval “could have at some time ... reacted in a furtive manner in the presence of the officials” and that “[t]his plus foreign appearance would constitute enough articulable facts [to] give rise to a suspicion of alienage.”
On appeal to this court, Sandoval contends that because his statements were the product of an illegal arrest, the INS should be barred from using Form 1-213 as evidence in his deportation proceeding. The government first argues that Sandoval’s detention at the plant was at most an investigative stop and that the stop was lawful because the “officers’ observations were sufficient to support a reasonable suspicion of the illegal nature of petitioner’s alienage.” Yet Officer Bower could not remember Sandoval or describe his behavior. It is thus difficult to imagine that there was the requisite individualized suspicion of illegal alienage to justify even a brief Terry stop of Sandoval. See International Ladies Garment Workers Union v. Sureck,
In sum, we must conclude on the record before us that Sandoval was under arrest at the time he was interrogated at the Franklin County Jail, and that because his arrest was not based upon probable cause, it violated the Fourth Amendment.
II
The question of the applicability of the exclusionary rule in deportation proceedings is one of first impression in this Circuit.' See Cuevas-Ortega v. Immigration and Naturalization Service,
The few federal courts which have squarely confronted the question have all held that evidence illegally obtained by federal agents is inadmissible in subsequent deportation proceedings. The first case to so hold was United States v. Wong Quong Wong,
In 1977, the First Circuit held in Wong Chung Che v. Immigration and Naturalization Service,
Until 1979, in fact, the INS itself had assumed in “countless cases since ... U.S. ex. rel. Bilokumsky v. Tod,
In sum, while the question whether the exclusionary rule applies in deportation proceedings is one of first impression in the Ninth Circuit, we do not write on a slate that is entirely clean. With the exception of the BIA, the authorities have uniformly favored exclusion of evidence obtained illegaily by INS agents. It is also significant that before the BIA’s decision in Matter of Sandoval, the INS performed its investigative and prosecutorial functions in a legal regime in which the exclusionary rule was thought to apply. Notwithstanding this prior history, we believe the question merits fresh consideration, especially in light of United States v. Janis,
Ill
In United States v. Janis, the Supreme Court held that the exclusionary rule did not bar the federal government from using in a civil tax proceeding evidence seized by
In deciding whether to apply the exclusionary rule in the civil case at issue in Janis, the Court balanced the deterrent benefit to be gained against the social cost of invoking the rule. The Court first focused on the likelihood that state police would be deterred from violating the Fourth Amendment if evidence they seized illegally was excluded from federal civil proceedings. The Court reasoned that “the deterrent effect of the exclusion of relevant evidence is highly attenuated when the ‘punishment’ imposed upon the offending .. . officer is the removal of that evidence from a civil suit by ... a different sovereign,” id. at 458,
As a second step in its analysis, the Court considered the extent to which the persons whose “conduct is to be controlled,” id. at 448,
Finally, the Court determined that the attenuated impact of excluding relevant evidence from a federal civil proceeding, coupled with the existing deterrent effect of the rule on state police, created a “situation in which the imposition of the exclusionary rule ... [was] unlikely to provide significant, much less substantial, additional deterrence.” Id. at 458,
IV
A
Appellant Sandoval, in arguing that evidence unlawfully obtained by INS agents should be excluded from his deportation hearing, presents- us with a question expressly left open in Janis — -whether the exclusionary rule should be applied in civil cases involving “intrasovereign violations”: cases in which “the officer committing the unconstitutional search or seizure[s] [is] an agent of the [same] sovereign that [seeks] to use the evidence.”
Taking the second step of the Janis analysis, we find that applications of the exclusionary sanction outside the deportation context are not likely to be effective in deterring immigration officers from violating the Fourth Amendment. While it is true that evidence seized illegally could not be used if Sandoval were to be criminally prosecuted for violation of the immigration laws, deportation, not criminal prosecution, is clearly the prime concern of immigration officers. Aliens apprehended for violation of the immigration laws are rarely subjected to criminal prosecution; in the vast majority of cases, they are either allowed to depart voluntarily or are deported following formal proceedings. See United States Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1979 Annual Report 5, 20 (fewer than 2% of the deportable aliens who are apprehended are ever convicted of criminal violations). Thus, criminal prosecution is simply not within the immigration officer’s “zone of primary interest.” Janis,
In sum, the Janis analysis, when applied here, compels the conclusion that the deterrent impact of invoking the rule in deportation proceedings will be “substantial and efficient.”
B
The social cost of applying the exclusionary rule in deportation proceedings must be measured primarily in terms of the number of aliens who will succeed in escaping deportation by the suppression of illegally obtained evidence of their alienage or illegal status. When analyzed in these terms, it becomes clear that only an infinitesimal fraction of the illegal alien population will mount challenges based on the exclusionary rule and that the small number who do so successfully will not appreciably increase the number of illegal aliens in our midst.
Historically, the exclusionary rule has been invoked infrequently in deportation proceedings. As it noted in Matter of Sandoval, the BIA was able to find only_two reported immigration cases since 1899 in which the rule was applied to bar unlawfully seized evidence, only one other case in which the rule’s application was specifically addressed, and fewer than fifty BIA proceedings since 1952 in which a Fourth Amendment challenge to the introduction of evidence was even raised. 17 I & N Dec. at 80, 98-99.
A second plausible explanation for the paucity of challenges based on the exclusionary rule is the relative ease with which aliens who are apprehended may reenter the United States following voluntary departure. Approximately 85% of the aliens present in this country enter from Mexico, from which entry without inspection is not difficult. See Department of Justice, Special Study Group on Illegal Immigrants from Mexico: A Program for Effective and Humane Action on Illegal Mexican Immigration 6 (1973). Thus those facing deportation to Mexico may find it simpler to leave voluntarily with the thought of reentering the United States at a later time
Thus the government cannot — and does not — base its argument about anticipated social costs on the numbers of illegal aliens who will succeed in remaining in this country by invoking the exclusionary rule.
We recognize that the problem of illegal immigration is an intractable one. Despite the best efforts of the INS, millions of aliens have managed to enter this country without inspection and to remain here undetected. For various reasons, as Justice White noted seven years ago, “[t]he entire system [of enforcement of the immigration laws] has been notably unsuccessful in deterring or stemming [the] heavy flow of illegal immigrants.” United States v. Ortiz,
Were we to give the INS a license to use tainted evidence in deportation proceedings, the agency could no doubt deport some handful of additional aliens who would otherwise escape deportation by invoking the rule. But surely the incremental social cost of harboring those few aliens who do succeed in escaping deportation on this basis and remain in the United States
Before holding that the rule must be applied in deportation proceedings, however, we treat the final contention advanced in Matter of Sandoval. Both the BIA in that case and the dissent here suggest that even if the deterrent effect of application of the exclusionary rule in the deportation context is substantial, there are less costly alternatives by which to achieve the rule’s goal of deterrence. We disagree. The alternatives proposed simply will not provide the deterrent necessary to ensure that official conduct comports with the Fourth Amendment.
C '
The alternatives to the exclusionary rule suggested by the BIA in Sandoval are both unrealistic and unacceptable. The BIA reasoned that the offending officer could be sued for damages in a Bivens
Similarly, prospective injunctive relief, while effective in some circumstances, see, e.g., International Ladies Garment Workers Union v. Sureck,
The final alternative, internal discipline, presents a closer question. In theory, self-policing should be the most effective deterrent to illegal conduct because it offers the most direct and immediate feedback to the offending officer. Yet the practical experience of other law enforcement agencies indicates that internal review is rarely effective in deterring Fourth Amendment violations. See Schroeder, supra, at 1401-07; Note, The Administration of Complaints by Civilians Against the Police, 77 Harv.L.Rev. 499 (1964).
Judge Alarcon is apparently convinced that the INS system does not suffer the defects of other self-policing systems. See, infra, p. 1092 (Alarcon, J., dissenting). Yet, although his dissent cites at length from the INS disciplinary guidelines, it offers no evidence whatsoever that the guidelines are being consistently and effectively enforced. We agree that the INS has made a commendable effort to design an effective disciplinary system, but “[i]t would ... be myopic to presume from the existence of a remedy its effective and consistent implementation.” Exclusionary Rule Note, supra, at 371. Even if we could assume adequate enforcement of the INS guidelines, it would be unrealistic to assume that illegal aliens who have been the victims of unlawful behavior by INS agents will report their experiences to the INS. See Schroeder, supra, at 1402.
We are hopeful that the INS’ efforts will be an effective complement to the exclusionary rule. Yet we are hesitant to place sole responsibility for ensuring that citizens and aliens alike are free from unwarranted government intrusions into their privacy on the same officers responsible for patroling the borders and apprehending persons they suspect are aliens in this country illegally. As Justice Murphy observed in Wolf v. Colorado,
CONCLUSION
In holding that evidence obtained by the INS in violation of the Fourth Amendment is inadmissible in subsequent deportation proceedings, we do not break new legal ground. Rather, we follow a line of case law directly on point broken only by the BIA’s split decision in Matter of Sandoval. We also follow a line of cases in which the exclusionary rule has been applied as a matter of routine where those who illegally seized evidence were of the same agency and pursuing the same law enforcement goals as those who sought to use it. Finally, although the Supreme Court has expressly reserved the question whether the rule applies in cases in which those who illegally seized the evidence are agents of the same sovereign who seeks to use it, we believe that its analysis in Janis dictates the result we reach in this particular case.
Until 1979, when the BIA decided Matter of Sandoval, immigration officers had been making arrests and seizing evidence appar
If the Fourth Amendment is to retain its vitality as guardian of the privacy of citizens and non-citizens alike, the federal judiciary must be constantly vigilant in ensuring adherence- to its commands by those charged with enforcing our laws. We are convinced that the best and indeed the only realistic way to ensure that immigration officers respect the precious values embodied in the Fourth Amendment is to apply the exclusionary rule in deportation proceedings.
For the foregoing reasons, we hold that Sandoval’s statements were inadmissible in his deportation hearing and REVERSE his order of deportation. We VACATE Lopez’s order of deportation and REMAND his case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Notes
. At their respective deportation hearings, Sandoval and Lopez each challenged the use of Form 1-213 on the ground that it was the product of an illegal arrest. Sandoval’s attorney questioned the immigration officer at length about his authority, in the absence of a search warrant, to question the plant workers; about the criteria he used to determine which workers to question regarding their immigration status; and about Sandoval’s responses to questions he was asked. All of the attorney’s questions were intended to ascertain the legality of Sandoval’s arrest. The immigration judge participated in the questioning and in his order noted specifically that “[rjespondent is contending in regard to his denial of deportability that the evidence relied upon by the Government should be suppressed as it is the result of the ‘fruit of the poisoned tree.’ He stated that his arrest was unlawful, was without a warrant, and he was not advised of his Miranda rights.” He went on to rule that the information obtained from Sandoval was not tainted by any Fourth Amendment violation because Sandoval’s arrest was lawful.
Lopez’s counsel also argued vigorously that Lopez had been arrested illegally. Although he styled his request as a motion to terminate the proceedings rather than, as a motion to suppress evidence, the only reasonable way to interpret the motion to terminate is as one that includes both a motion to suppress and a motion to dismiss. The only evidence introduced against Lopez was the INS Form 1-213 and the affidavit of the immigration officer. Since both were completed based on information obtained as a product of Lopez’s arrest, Lopez’s argument must be that both must be excluded if his arrest violated the Fourth Amendment. If all the evidence introduced against Lopez must be excluded, there is then no evidence on which he may be deported, and the proceedings must be terminated. This appears to be the way in which the BIA interpreted the motion.
. In deportation proceedings involving unlawful entry into the country, the burden of proof is on the government to prove alienage. Once the government has met its burden, it is then up to the alien to prove his legal status in the United States. Iran v. INS,
. The immigration judge decided Sandoval before we held in International Ladies Garment Workers Union v. Sureck,
. For purposes of review, we accept the historical facts as found by the immigration law judge. The question whether, on these facts, Sandoval’s arrest was based upon probable cause, however, is one of law which is freely reviewable on appeal. See United States v. Chesher,
. The government does not contend, and we do not believe, that Sandoval’s statements at the police station were so distant from his arrest that they were sufficiently “an act of free will to purge the primary taint” of the illegal arrest. Wong Sun v. United States,
. Unlike criminal prosecutions for violation of the immigration laws, deportation proceedings have historically been classified as civil in nature. See Woodby v. Immigration and Naturalization Serv.,
. Several courts have, in addition, considered objections to the use in deportation proceedings of evidence allegedly obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment, but have found no violation. See, e.g., Cordon de Ruano v. INS,
. After an alien suspected of being in the country illegally is apprehended, he is brought before an immigration law judge who conducts his deportation hearing. 8 U.S.C. § 1252(b). The Board of Immigration Appeals hears appeals from decisions of the immigration law judges. 8 C.F.R. § 3.1(b). The BIA is an agency of the Department of Justice that is separate from the Immigration and Naturalization Service. 8 C.F.R. § 3.1.
. It is, of course, settled law that the exclusionary rule applies in criminal, Weeks v. United States,
Although we do not decide the case on this ground, we believe it is arguable that application of the exclusionary rule to deportation proceedings could be justified by characterizing such proceedings as quasi-criminal, applying the rationale of One 1958 Plymouth Sedan v. Pennsylvania,
In essence, civil and criminal proceedings walk hand in hand in intrasovereign wedlock ... [t]he government may have a criminal action against an alien for violation of [the immigration laws] ... thrown out because of fatally contaminated evidence, and then turn right around and proceed against him in a deportation proceeding of equal or greater consequence, relying on the identical evidence. This is wrong.... Underlying the majority decision is the premise that there is something inherent in a civil deportation proceeding, as against a criminal proceeding, which makes the application of the rule (a) less necessary, and (b) less effective. Neither of these assumptions is acceptable.
Id. at 95-96.
. The Court in Janis pointedly refrained from adopting a categorical test making the applicability of the exclusionary rule turn on the characterization of the proceeding as criminal, quasi-criminal or civil. Had it intended to do so, its lengthy analysis of the deterrent effect on state police of excluding evidence from federal civil proceedings would have been a futile exercise. Furthermore, the Court would not have left open the question whether the exclusionary rule is to be applied in civil cases involving intrasovereign violations, cases where the evidence sought to be excluded is seized by agents of the same sovereign attempting to use the tainted evidence in a civil proceeding. United States v. Janis,
A test for the exclusionary rule that turns on the civil or criminal character of the proceeding does not comport with an objective of achieving substantial deterrence.... More important, the rule can have a deterrent effect in appropriate civil proceedings, as numerous federal courts have recognized.... And if it is not used in such circumstances where it is needed, “the Government would be free to undertake unreasonable searches and seizures in all civil cases without the possibility of unfavorable consequences.” ... We therefore agree that the exclusionary rule can be properly and beneficially applied in those civil proceedings where it has a realistic prospect of achieving marginal deterrence.
The dissent reads United States v. Calandra,
Any incremental deterrent effect which might be achieved by extending the rule to grand jury proceedings is uncertain at best. Whatever deterrence of police misconduct may result from the exclusion of illegally seized evidence from criminal trials, it is unrealistic to assume that application of the rule to grand jury proceedings would significantly further that goal.
Id. at 351,
The dissent’s suggestion, see infra p. 1096, that NLRB v. South Bay Daily Breeze,
We did note in South Bay Daily Breeze that even in the absence of Supreme Court deci
. Although the Supreme Court has emphasized that the deterrent impact of application of the exclusionary rule is the primary inquiry in deciding whether to invoke it, see Janis,
. Judge Alarcon in dissent relies on a number of cases which are inapposite because of the fundamental distinction between the jurisprudence of the exclusionary rule on the one hand and that of constitutional rights personal to an accused on the other. The Fourth Amendment exclusionary rule, unlike the rules excluding evidence obtained in violation of the Fifth and Sixth Amendments, is not intended to remedy the constitutional violation personally suffered by the party who invokes it; rather, it is a prophylactic rule designed primarily to deter future invasions of the Fourth Amendment privacy interests of all persons, citizens and aliens alike. As the Court noted in Calandra:
The purpose of the exclusionary rule is not to redress the injury to the privacy of the search victim:
“[T]he ruptured privacy of the victims’ homes and effects cannot be restored. Reparation comes too late.”
Linkletter v. Walker,381 U.S. 618 , 637,85 S.Ct. 1731 , 1742,14 L.Ed.2d 601 (1965). Instead, the rule’s prime purpose is to deter future unlawful police conduct and thereby effectuate the guarantee of the Fourth Amendment against unreasonable searches and seizures:
The rule is calculated to prevent, not to repair. Its purpose is to deter — to compel respect for the constitutional guaranty in the only effectively available way — by removing the incentive to disregard it.
Elkins v. United States,364 U.S. 206 , 217,80 S.Ct. 1437 , 1444,4 L.Ed.2d 1669 (1960).
In sum, the rule is a judicially created remedy designed to safeguard Fourth Amendment rights generally through its deterrent effect, rather than a personal constitutional right of the party aggrieved.
As for Fong Yue Ting v. United States,
Equally telling is the fact that the proceeding in Fong Yue Ting had nothing to do with determining whether the Chinese were aliens. Chinese in 1892 could not legally become naturalized citizens of the United States. The defendants in the case were undisputably aliens and the question presented was whether they had met the statutory requirements to remain in the country. The entire purpose of a deportation proceeding, however, is to determine whether someone is an alien and, if so, whether he is in the country illegally.
. The BIA reasoned also that even if an alien’s identity is discovered through an illegal arrest or search, the INS can still establish the alien’s deportability with untainted evidence from its files. See Hoonsilapa v. Immigration and Naturalization Serv.,
. Because the circumstances here present such a compelling case for application of the exclusionary rule, and because we have here much more than simply an intrasovereign violation, we need not decide the broad question left open in Janis — whether the exclusionary rule applies generally in civil proceedings when intrasovereign violations are involved.
. In Tirado, the Second Circuit held the exclusionary rule inapplicable to a civil case involving an intrasovereign violation: use by the IRS in a federal tax proceeding of evidence seized illegally by federal narcotics agents. Despite its holding, however, the court noted that
courts routinely prohibit governmental authorities from using illegally seized evidence in the proceedings for which the search was conducted, not only in a criminal prosecution, e.g., Mapp v. Ohio,367 U.S. 643 [81 S.Ct. 1684 ,6 L.Ed.2d 1081 ] (1961), but also in a variety of civil proceedings, e.g., Wong Chung Che v. INS,565 F.2d 166 , 168-69 (1st Cir.1977) (documents seized by immigration officials investigating illegal aliens excludable from subsequent deportation hearing); Knoll Associates v. FTC,397 F.2d 530 , 534-35 (7th Cir.1968) (documents seized for purposes of FTC investigation excluded from resulting hearing); Smyth v. Lubbers,398 F.Supp. 777 , 786 (W.D.Mich.1975) (drugs seized from dormitory rooms by state college officials investigating violations of college rules excluded from resulting disciplinary proceeding); Iowa v. Union Asphalt & Roadoils, Inc.,281 F.Supp. 391 , 406-09 (S.D.Iowa 1968), aff’d sub nom. Standard Oil Co. v. Iowa,408 F.2d 1171 (8th Cir.1969) (business records seized by state attorney general excluded from resulting civil antitrust proceeding).
We agree, and would add to this list other “core” cases, id. at 311, in which the exclusionary rule was applied as a matter of course. See, e.g., Powell v. Zuckert,
. The BIA declined to identify which “reported cases” it understood to treat the exclusionary rule issue, although it had previously made reference to Ex parte Jackson and United States v. Wong Quong Wong, supra. The point important for our consideration, however, is that it could isolate few cases of any sort in which the exclusion of evidence was discussed, much less accepted.
. INS statistics indicate that the overwhelming majority of those apprehended choose to depart voluntarily: of the approximately one million illegal aliens who are apprehended each year, fewer than 2.5% are deported following formal INS adjudication of their status. Statistical Yearbook of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (1979).
. Those who remain to litigate their status and are deported following formal proceedings are also subjected to constraints on any legal
. We thus reject the contention of the BIA, Matter of Sandoval, 17 I & N Dec. at 80, and the dissent, see infra p. 1089, that the potential administrative costs of applying the exclusionary rule outweigh its deterrent value. Their drastic predictions of the fiscal and administrative consequences that will result from application of the rule are not defensible in light of past experience. See infra p. 1073.
. Indeed, for the government to do so would put it in the awkward position of arguing that violations of the Fourth Amendment by immigration officers are widespread. The government cannot have it both ways. Either violations — and therefore successful challenges— will be few, or they will be extensive, resulting in greater impact of application of the rule but highlighting the need for a strong deterrent.
. There is, of course, nothing to prevent the INS from later deporting such an illegal alien on evidence not the fruit of a Fourth Amendment violation.
. See Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics,
Dissenting Opinion
join dissenting:
I respectfully dissent.
Today the majority has extended the exclusionary rule to the suppression of oral statements in civil deportation proceedings. None of the cases relied upon by the majority support this radical departure from existing law.
It is equally remarkable that the majority has chosen this drastic example of judicial law making at a time when the United States Supreme Court has raised questions as to whether:
the rule requiring the exclusion at a criminal trial of evidence obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment, Mapp v. Ohio,367 U.S. 643 [81 S.Ct. 1684 ,6 L.Ed.2d 1081 ] (1961); Weeks v. United States,232 U.S. 383 [34 S.Ct. 341 ,58 L.Ed. 652 ] (1914), should to any extent be modified, so as, for example, not to require the exclusion of evidence obtained in the reasonable belief that the search and seizure at issue was consistent with the Fourth Amendment.
Illinois v. Gates, - U.S.-,
In 1886, the United States Supreme Court first applied the exclusionary rule in Boyd v. United States,
Six years after Boyd, the Supreme Court noted the clear differences between a criminal trial and a civil deportation proceeding in the following language:
The order of deportation is not a punishment for crime. It is not a banishment, in the sense in which that word is often applied to the expulsion of a citizen from his country by way of punishment. It is but a method of enforcing the return to his own country of an alien who has not complied with the conditions upon the performance of which the government of the nation, acting within its constitutional authority and through the proper departments, has determined that his continuing to reside here shall depend. He has not, therefore, been deprived of life, liberty or property, without due process of law; and the provisions of the Constitution, securing the right of trial by jury, and prohibiting unreasonable searches and seizures, and cruel and unusual punishments, have no application.
The question whether, and upon what conditions, these aliens shall be permitted to remain within the United States being one to be determined by the political departments of the government, the judicial department cannot properly express an opinion upon the wisdom, the policy or the justice of the measures enacted by Congress in the exercise of the powers confided to it by the Constitution over this subject.
Fong Yue Ting v. United States,
The majority has neither cited nor discussed this clear pronouncement from our highest Court that the provisions of the constitution prohibiting unreasonable searches and seizures have no application to civil deportation proceedings.
We are told that in the last thirty-two years fewer than fifty challenges have been made on fourth amendment grounds, and that “one possible explanation is that immigration officers have not committed many fourth amendment transgressions.... ” (Maj.Op. at 1069). I agree.
There is no evidence before us of widespread governmental misconduct that must be deterred by granting certain aliens immunity from our immigration laws. Yet, the majority justifies its new rule of evidence in part by pointing out that “the number of aliens likely to escape deportation by invoking the rule is inconsequential.” (Maj.Op. at 1070). This mode of analysis is in clear conflict with that taken in Wolf v. Colorado,
The majority informs us that those courts that have addressed the issue have each held that evidence in civil deportation proceedings obtained in violation of the fourth amendment is not admissible. (Maj.Op. at 1063). The authority relied upon by my prevailing colleagues consists of two district court decisions, which are of dubious precedential value in light of contrary statements in the decisions of higher courts, and a more recent decision of the First Circuit which, when reviewing civil deportation proceedings, would not require suppression of oral statements obtained after an illegal arrest. Wong Chung Che,
To justify its extension of the exclusionary rule to civil deportation proceedings, the majority relies most heavily on United States v. Janis,
The majority has failed to respect the admonition of the Supreme Court in Janis that: “[tjhere comes a point at which courts, consistent with their duty to administer the law, cannot continue to create barriers to law enforcement in the pursuit of a supervisory role that is properly the duty of the Executive and Legislative branches.”
I.
A.
In its enthusiasm to create an exclusionary rule applicable to civil deportation proceedings, the majority has reversed the order of deportation in the Sandoval-Sanchez matter notwithstanding the fact that Sandoval-Sanchez failed to object to the admissibility of his oral statements on search and seizure grounds. Instead, his counsel sought termination of the proceedings on fourth amendment grounds.
Since neither appellant timely moved to suppress evidence on fourth amendment grounds, the exclusionary rule issue is not properly before us. In a criminal proceeding, the failure to move for the suppression of evidence at trial constitutes a waiver of the right to raise the issue on appeal. See, e.g., Fed.R.Crim.P. 12(b)(3), (f); see also United States v. Wood,
We are not told by the majority why it has determined that an alien in a civil deportation proceeding should enjoy the right to raise evidentiary matters for the first time on appeal while a person facing the loss of life, liberty, or property may not do so. The majority has chosen to reach out beyond the record to fashion a new rule in complete derogation of traditional appellate practice and procedure.
B.
We are informed by the majority that it followed the Janis test of balancing “the deterrent benefit to be gained against the social cost of invoking the rule.” (Maj.Op. at 1067). Notwithstanding this assurance, we are not referred to any facts in this record from which it can be reasonably inferred that immigration officers routinely conduct unreasonable searches and seizures. The record is also barren of any facts that would support an inference that extending the exclusionary rule to civil deportation proceedings would act as a significant deterrent to present INS practices. Instead, the majority, relying on materials outside the record in these proceedings, is forced to speculate as to the reasons why “immigration officers have not committed many fourth amendment transgressions.” (Maj.Op. at 1071). Thus, the majority has created a remedy for which there is no demonstrated need.
The majority is also unable to point to any facts in this record from which one can assess the societal costs that will result from the application of the exclusionary rule to civil deportation hearings within the Ninth Circuit. The majority’s fancied assumptions about deterrence and societal costs do not comport with the requirement set forth in United States v. Janis,
The exclusionary rule is a “drastic measure”, Janis,
C.
In extending the exclusionary rule to civil deportation cases, the majority has also failed to give adequate consideration to the consequences of this decision on the future status of the alien who gains dismissal of deportation proceedings after a suppression hearing.
The majority has ignored a fundamental distinction between a criminal prosecution and a civil deportation proceeding. When a district court conducting a criminal trial excludes evidence obtained unconstitutionally, it does not thereby immunize the accused from prosecution for future criminal activity. An accused can only be prosecuted for specific past criminal activity. No one can be prosecuted solely because he is a person who has chosen to sustain himself by criminal behavior. Criminal sanctions cannot be imposed merely on the basis of the status of the individual. Robinson v. California,
By contrast, being an alien who has entered this country illegally is a status which is a continuing offense under the laws of the United States. A person who wins dismissal of criminal charges because evidence has been suppressed can be arrested and prosecuted if he or she commits a new crime leaving the courthouse. An alien who has entered this country illegally and who thereafter wins dismissal of deportation proceedings under the rule created by the majority is still illegally in this country. Will an alien now be forever immune from deportation, in spite of his or her continuing violation of the immigration laws? Stated differently, does the majority’s new rule permit an alien to escape deportation notwithstanding such person’s continued and future defiance of our laws under the “fruit of the poisonous tree” concept? Wong Sun v. United States,
D.
The majority, citing United States v. Wong Quong Wong,
Our attention is first directed to United States v. Wong Quong Wong,
As noted previously, six years prior to the decision reached in Wong Quong Wong, the Supreme Court, in Fong Yue Ting, discussed the nature of civil deportation proceedings. The Court characterized these proceedings as civil, and not penal or criminal, in nature. The Court concluded that since civil deportation proceedings are not criminal, the fourth amendment’s prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures have no application.
In light of this precedent, the Wong Quong Wong Court’s reliance on Boyd is misplaced. Boyd involved an action brought by the government to forfeit property for a fraud against the revenue laws. The penalties imposed by the law included monetary fines, imprisonment, and forfeiture of goods. In deciding the applicability of the fourth and fifth amendments to such a proceeding, the Court held that:
[Because] suits for penalties and forfeitures incurred by the commission of of-fences against the law, are of this quasi-criminal nature, we think that they are within the reason of criminal proceedings for all the purposes of the fourth amendment of the Constitution and of that portion of the fifth amendment which declares that no person shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself....
Fong Yue Ting clearly states that civil deportation proceedings are not penal or criminal, but rather, civil in nature. Conse
Ex Parte Jackson,
The district judge in Jackson appears to have assumed that the law of this circuit entitles an alien in a civil deportation proceeding to the same constitutional protections that are available to an accused in a criminal proceeding. The present law of this circuit is to the contrary. In Lavoie v. INS,
Thus, as a result of the majority’s decision in the Sandoval-Sanchez matter, an alien in the Ninth Circuit does not have the same fifth and sixth amendment rights of a person facing federal criminal prosecution, but does have the same criminal safeguards available under the fourth amendment. This paradoxical state of the law can only lead to confusion amongst those persons required to follow, enforce, or apply the law as we see it or make it.
The majority also briefly directs our attention to United States ex rel. Bilokumsky v. Tod,
[S]ince deportation proceedings are in ' their nature civil, the rule excluding involuntary confessions could have no application. Newhall v. Jenkins,2 Gray, 562 , 563. Moreover, a hearing granted does not cease to be fair, merely because rules of evidence and procedure applicable in judicial proceedings have not been strictly followed by the executive; or because some evidence has been improperly rejected or received. Tang Tun v. Edsell,223 U.S. 673 , 681 [32 S.Ct. 359 , 363,56 L.Ed. 606 ]. To render a hearing unfair the defect, or the practice complained of, must have been such as might have led to a denial of justice, or there must have*1082 been absent one of the elements deemed essential to due process.
Id. at 157,
Bilokumsky was decided in 1923. Thirty-seven years later in Abel v. United States,
The only recent case cited by the majority that has expressly held that the exclusionary rule should apply to civil deportation proceedings is Wong Chung Che v. INS,
First, as noted above, the assumption, made by the Supreme Court in Bilokumsky concerning the admissibility of illegally seized evidence in deportation proceedings is entitled to little weight. Whatever persuasive effect it might have once had has been erased by Abel.
Second, the court in Wong Chung Che totally ignored recent decisions of the Supreme Court in United States v. Calandra,
Third, the Court in Wong Chong Che failed to discuss, or at least attempt to distinguish, those cases such as Boyd v. United States,
Finally, Wong Chong Che relies on a statement from an immigration treatise that the exclusionary rule applies in civil deportation proceedings.
In each of the cases relied upon by the majority in support of its extension of the exclusionary rule to civil deportation cases,
Thus, it should be noted that the majority erroneously states that the First Circuit held in Wong Chung Che “that evidence obtained in an illegal search by INS agents is inadmissible in a deportation proceeding.” (Maj.Op. at 1063). In fact, the court held that physical evidence so seized would be inadmissible. Oral statements, such as those obtained from Sandoval-Sanchez and Lopez-Mendoza apparently would be admissible in the first circuit, contrary to the holding of the majority in the instant matters.
II.
A.
I begin my substantive analysis of the wisdom of extending the exclusionary rule to civil deportation proceedings with the Supreme Court’s observation that “[djespite [the] broad deterrent purpose” of the rule, the Court has never interpreted it “to proscribe the use of illegally seized evidence in all proceedings or against all persons.” United States v. Calandra,
The exclusionary rule is a “remedial device,” and its application “has been restricted to those areas where its remedial objectives are thought most efficaciously served.” Janis,
To determine whether to extend the exclusionary rule to civil deportation proceedings, a balancing approach must be applied.
Our task then is to examine the function and purpose of civil deportation proceedings to determine whether the use of evidence unlawfully seized is likely to result in the imposition of a criminal sanction upon the victim of an illegal search. See Calandra,
Calandra amply illustrates that courts seeking to apply the exclusionary rule in non-criminal contexts must consider the nature of the proceeding in balancing the exclusionary rule’s deterrent effect against its cost to society. There, the Court discussed, at length, the role and historic function of the grand jury.
In spite of the majority’s suggestion to the contrary, (Maj.Op. at 1065 n. 9) Janis does not displace an analysis that considers the purpose of the proceedings in attempt
I disagree with the majority’s assertion that the Janis court “employed an analysis that does not foreclose application of the exclusionary rule in all civil proceedings.” (Maj.Op. at 1066). (footnote omitted) (emphasis added). The question the Court left open in Janis is whether the exclusionary rule should be extended to a subsequent civil proceeding where the officers who conducted an unreasonable search and seizure are the agents of the same sovereign that unsuccessfully sought to use the evidence in a prior criminal proceeding. See Janis,
On the other hand, the similarities between the instant case and Calandra present helpful analogies in considering the appropriateness of applying the exclusionary rule to civil deportation proceedings.
B.
Historically, the Supreme Court has long recognized that the responsibility for regulating the relationship between the United States and aliens has been committed to the political branches of the federal government. Mathews v. Diaz,
This recognition is premised on the view that: [A]ny policy toward aliens is vitally and intricately interwoven with contemporaneous policies in regard to the conduct of foreign relations, the war power, and the maintenance of a republican form of government. Such matters are so exclusively entrusted to the political branches of government as to be largely immune from judicial inquiry or interference. [citations].
Harisiades v. Shaughnessy,
This court also quoted with approval the principle set forth in Fiallo v. Bell, that in the exercise of its broad power over immigration and naturalization, “[CJongress regularly makes rules that would be unacceptable if applied to citizens.”
The Supreme Court has recently noted that undocumented aliens may be treated differently in terms of their entitlement to state benefits. See, e.g., Plyler v. Doe, -U.S.-,
The law is equally well established that deportation, however severe its consequences, is not punishment for a crime, and that deportation proceedings are not penal in nature. E.g., Mahler v. Eby,
This Circuit has also recognized that deportation proceedings are not penal but, rather, regulatory in nature. See, e.g., Ramirez v. INS,
Thus, because deportation proceedings are not viewed as imposing a criminal sanction, uniform decisions of the Supreme Court hold that “deportation proceedings are not subject to the constitutional safeguards for criminal prosecutions.” Abel v. United States,
Our Circuit has followed this view until today. See, e.g., Martin-Mendoza v. INS,
Were we writing on a clean slate, perhaps we would debate as an original proposition the doctrine that deportation proceedings are not penal in nature, and therefore criminal safeguards are inapplicable, “but [it] [has] been considered [a] closed [subject] for many years and a body of statute [sic] and decisional law has been built upon [it].” Harisiades v. Shaughnessy,
III.
A.
As noted earlier, in determining whether to extend the exclusionary rule to a civil proceeding, Calandra requires us to weigh the potential injury to the historic role and functions of the proceeding in question against the potential benefits of the rule if applied in this context. Calandra,
In Calandra, the Court concluded that the exclusionary rule would seriously impede the grand jury. In declining to extend the rule, the Court reasoned that the grand jury traditionally has been allowed to pursue its investigative and accusatory functions unimpeded by the evidentiary and procedural restrictions applicable to a criminal trial because the grand jury does not finally adjudicate guilt or innocence.
After concluding that application of the exclusionary rule would unduly interfere with the effective and expeditious discharge of the grand jury’s duties, the Court weighed, as against this potential injury, the possible benefits to be derived from the proposed extension. The Court reasoned that, while in a criminal trial suppression of illegally seized evidence “is thought to be an important method of effectuating the Fourth Amendment, ... it does not follow that the Fourth Amendment requires adoption of every proposal that might deter police misconduct.” Id. at 350,
The Court reasoned that any incremental deterrent effect that might be achieved by extending the rule to grand jury proceedings was “uncertain at best.” Id. at 351,
The analysis employed in Calandra compels the same conclusion in the instant case. Civil deportation proceedings do not involve determinations of guilt or innocence of a criminal offense. For this reason, the evi
While the exact number is uncertain, it has been estimated that there are nearly five million illegal aliens in this country. See Note, The Exclusionary Rule in Deportation Proceedings: A Time For Alternatives, 14 J.Int’l L. & Econ. 349, 350 (1980).-In 1981, immigration officers apprehended 975,780 illegal aliens. U.S. Depart, of Justice, INS Report of Field Operations (1981) (Form G — 23.18). The vast majority had\ their cases disposed of without exercising their right to have their status determined at a formal hearing. Of those arrested, 773,681 voluntarily waived their right to a hearing and were returned to their own country. Id. at G-23.8. The balance exercised their right to have their status determined by an immigration judge at a deportation hearing.
The effect of the majority’s decision to extend the exclusionary rule to deportation hearings will be to encourage aliens to demand a formal deportation hearing — not to attempt to establish that they are lawfully in the United States — but to challenge the legality of the officer’s conduct. Currently, approximately forty immigration judges preside over deportation hearings. See Levinson, A Specialized Court for Immigration Hearings and Appeals, 56 Notre Dame Law, 644, 644 (1981). If each alien is entitled to a suppression hearing, the United States may have to increase the number of immigration judges drastically. Additional funding would then have to be found for hearing rooms and support personnel.
The majority has failed to consider the fact that in federal criminal proceedings, each accused person appears before a judicial officer. The federal criminal justice system is constructed so as to give defendants their day in court on any issue they may lawfully wish to raise. There is no procedure by which guilty defendants can be punished without appearing in court. The United States district courts returned 27,367 indictments in 1981. Annual Report of Director of Administrative Office, A-56 (1981). Every accused person who was apprehended in connection with these indictments appeared before a judge. If each defendant chose to make a suppression motion, judicial officers would have been available to consider its merits.
By contrast, immigration judges are not now required to give each alien his or her day in court, if the appearance or determination of status is voluntarily waived. Today’s decision creates a strong motivation for aliens now illegally in the United States to challenge the admissibility of evidence at a formal civil deportation proceeding, since aliens can remain in the United States until all legal remedies have been exhausted. The majority’s decision thus creates a substantial likelihood that immigration judges will be overwhelmed by hearing requests.
To illustrate the delay this new rule may create on deportation matters, consider the facts in the two matters before this court. Elias Sandoval-Sanchez was arrested June 23,1977. Adam Lopez-Mendoza was arrested August 1, 1976. If these appeals ultimately prove unsuccessful, Sandoval-Sanchez will have extended his illegal presence in this country by almost six years; Mendoza by almost seven years. In Calandra, the Court found that this kind of delay illustrated “the force of the argument” that extension of the exclusionary rule might completely frustrate the objective of the grand jury.
The majority believes that its holding “should result in no significant increase in the frequency with which the exclusionary rule is invoked in deportation proceedings.” (Maj.Op. at 1071). My colleagues then speculate that if the rule results in aborted deportation proceedings in one hundred cases a year, “the result would be an increase of less than one one thousandth of one percent in the illegal alien population.” Id. This, the majority concludes, would not be an exorbitant price to pay for effective deterrence of INS misconduct.
Moreover, it is an integral function of our federal district courts to resolve constitutional questions. In marked contrast, the responsibility of immigration judges in deportation proceedings has been to resolve factual questions concerning the status of an alien, not to resolve constitutional issues. Given the unsuitability of the immigration hearing to the resolution of complex constitutional controversies, the adverse impact that today’s decision may have on the civil deportation proceedings cannot be ignored.
In this regard, the BIA’s damage assessment should be compelling, as that court, more so than this one, is in a position to anticipate the cost to the system in which it functions. In my view, we should defer to the following judgment:
Absent the applicability of the exclusionary rule, questions relating to deportability routinely involve simple factual allegations and matters of proof. When Fourth Amendment issues are raised at deportation hearings, the result is a diversion of attention from the main issues ■which those proceedings were created to resolve, both in terms of the expertise of the administrative decision makers and of the structure of the forum to accommodate inquiries into search and seizure questions. The result frequently seems to be a long, confused record in which the issues are not clearly defined and in which there is voluminous testimony, but the underlying facts [are] not sufficiently developed. The ensuing delays and inordinate amount of time spent on such cases at all levels has an adverse impact on the effective administration of the immigration laws, which to date (in view of the virtual absence of cases in which evidence has been ultimately excluded) has in no way been counterbalanced by any apparent productive result.
Matter of Sandoval, 17 I & N Dec. 70, 80 (BIA 1979) (footnote omitted).
Although the majority apparently rejects this conclusion, it offers no principled reason for its action other than the observation that it “is not defensible in light of past experience.” (Maj.Op. at 1072 n. 19). Presumably, this past experience consists of its estimate that there have been approximately some fifty challenges on fourth amendment grounds since 1952. Certainly, the number of aliens and the number of deportation proceedings have dramatically increased each year since 1952. See 1979 Annual Report of the Immigration and Naturalization Service at 3 (more deportable aliens were apprehended in fiscal year 1979 than in any other fiscal year since 1954); see also A . Program for Effective and Humane Action on Illegal Immigrants (Jan. 15, 1973) at 6 (in fiscal year 1960, fewer than 30,000 aliens were apprehended, in 1965, the number nearly doubled; in the following five year period, the apprehension figure experienced a 400 percent jump, rising to nearly 280,000 in fiscal year 1970). Given these increases, past experience is not an accurate indicator of the potential injury the exclusionary rule would have on today’s deportation proceedings.
At least one study supports this’concern. E.g., A Program Annual Report of the Immigration and Naturalization Service for Effective and Humane Action on Illegal Immigrants (January 15, 1973) at 16.
B.
As noted earlier, Calandra instructs us that the need for the exclusionary rule’s deterrent effect is strongest in situations where the government’s unlawful conduct will result in the imposition of a criminal penalty upon the victim of the unlawful conduct.
Another explanation is that the Immigration and Naturalization Service has instituted a comprehensive procedure for the investigation and prosecution of disciplinary actions against immigration officers who are accused of conducting an illegal search and seizure. An immigration officer who is found to have conducted an unconstitutional search is subject to various penalties and disabilities including “removal from his job[,] which may bar him from future federal employment.” U.S. Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service, The Law of Search and Seizure for Immigration Officers, 35 (1979) (footnote omitted). Each employee of the INS is required to report any allegation of a violation by an immigration officer of an alien’s constitutional rights. See Immigration and Naturalization Service Operations Instructions, 287.10, 4721, 4723.
An employee who fails to report any allegation of a unreasonable search and seizure by an immigration officer is subject to disciplinary action. See id. at 4730. The employee is required to report such allegations to his supervisor, district director, chief, patrol agent or officer in charge. Id. Deportation proceedings must be suspended upon the filing of such an allegation against an immigration officer. “Whenever an allegation is made by, on behalf of, or involves an alien, no action will be taken to enforce the departure from the United States of either the alien or of any witnesses involved until a preliminary inquiry or an investigation of the matter has been completed.” Id. at 4730. Depending on the category of the alleged misconduct and the job level of the accused individual a report is then made to the Office of Professional Responsibility or to the Regional Commissioners (or their designee). Id. at 4728.
These disciplinary procedures come under the Service Professional Responsibility Program. This program is headed by the Office of Professional Responsibility, which plans, directs and manages “the Service’s investigative program concerning allegations or information of criminal, or other misconduct by Service employees.” Id. at 4721. The program requires that the Office of Professional Responsibility or the regional office immediately upon receiving the report determine “whether or not the alleged offense is prima facie misconduct and whether or not a Service employee is or
Depending on the degree of the offense or the job level of the accused the investigation will be conducted by a staff officer from the Office of Professional Responsibility or an officer selected by the Regional Commissioners or their designees. Id. at 4735-36. The officer selected by the Regional Commissioners, “if not a supervisory employee, must not be from the same District or Sector as the involved employee. Supervisory employees selected shall not be from the same operating branch as the accused employee.” Id. at 4736. These investigations must be completed and reports submitted within sixty days of the date the case is assigned. Id. at 4737. An extension of time to complete an investigation is only granted for a compelling reason. Id. at 4737-38. All investigative reports are reviewed for “sufficiency of the investigation and approved by the Director ... [of the Office of Professional Responsibility] or by Regional Commissioners. ... Id. at 4738. If the allegations are sustained then depending on the seriousness of the offense, the matter may be forwarded to the U.S. Attorney having jurisdiction over the matter or “to the Associate Commissioner, Management, or the Associate Regional Commissioner, Management to assure appropriate corrective action as warranted by designated officials.” Id. at 4739.
It is readily apparent from reviewing the Immigration and Naturalization Service’s disciplinary procedure that a sincere effort is being made to deter and to punish search and seizure violations. A police officer who conducts an unreasonable search and seizure may suffer anguish when a criminal defendant goes free because of his blunder. He does not, however, face the immediate prospect of unemployment as a result of the exclusion of illegally seized evidence. An immigration officer on the other hand, faces loss of his job and denial of future federal employment if he conducts an illegal search and seizure. These stern consequences should serve as a far greater deterrent to improper conduct than the possibility that deportation proceedings against an alien may be dismissed. No evidence has been cited to this court that these harsh disciplinary measures proved ineffective.
To paraphrase the Supreme Court’s cogent statement in United States v. Caceres,
Conceding that self policing should be the most effective deterrent because it offers direct and immediate feedback to the officer, the majority nevertheless concludes that the INS regulations will not be an effective deterrent. (Maj.Op. at 1071).
As noted previously, the majority has failed to identify any facts which demonstrate that the exclusionary rule is necessary in civil deportation proceedings or that it will serve as a deterrent to INS officers in conducting arrests, searches, and seizures. Rather, the majority relies solely on the assumption made in the criminal context that the exclusionary rule effectively deters police from violating a defendant’s fourth amendment rights. While the Supreme Court continues to apply this assumption in criminal cases, it does not follow that it will do so in non-criminal matters. Indeed, the Janis court refused to apply the assumption to justify extending the rule to a tax proceeding. The extension of the rule to a federal civil tax proceeding would have been “an unjustifiably drastic action by the courts in the pursuit of what is an undesired and undesirable supervisory role over police officers.”
In the past this Court has opted for exclusion in the anticipation that law enforcement officers would be deterred from violating Fourth Amendment rights. Then, as now, the Court acted in the absence of convincing empirical evidence and relied, instead, on its own assumptions of human nature and the interrelationship of the various components of the law enforcement system. In the situation before us, we do not find sufficient justification for the drastic measure of an exclusionary rule.
Id.,
In my view, Janis’message is simply this: those seeking the extension of the rule must demonstrate that there is sufficient justification for the “drastic measure” of the exclusionary rule. See id. at 453 n. 26,
Unlike the field of criminal law, the supervisory role over deportation is committed to the political branches of our government. The power of Congress over the admission of aliens and their right to remain “is necessarily very broad, touching as it does basic aspects of national sovereignty, more particularly our foreign relations and the national security.” Galvan v. Press,
CONCLUSION
I would affirm the orders of the BIA on each of these matters. Each appellant failed to make a motion to suppress evidence of his oral statements at his hearing before the immigration judge. The failure to so object constituted a waiver of the right to seek appellate review.
Further, appellants failed to present any evidence which would support an inference that the drastic remedy of excluding relevant evidence of illegal status is required to curb widespread lawless enforcement of our immigration laws. In fact, the majority has forthrightly conceded that there is a “paucity” of widespread, fourth amendment violations in the arrests of aliens who have illegally entered this nation. The Supreme Court has refused to extend the exclusionary rule where there is insufficient evidence that it is required to curb repeated lawless enforcement of the law.
A strong internal deterrent to unreasonable searches and seizures has been devised by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. There is no sound reason for us to undertake the supervision of the conduct of arrests and searches and seizures by immigration officers. This nation cannot afford the added cost to the enforcement of our immigration laws that will surely follow implementation of the majority’s new rule of evidence. We should demand a showing of strong justification for the erection of new barriers to effective enforcement of our immigration laws. As the Supreme Court recently observed:
at the least, those who elect to enter our territory by stealth and in violation of our law should be prepared to bear the consequences, including but not limited to, deportation.
Plyler v. Doe,
As members of the judicial branch of government whose constitutional role is limited to the application of existing law to real cases or controversies, shouldn’t we restrain ourselves from the temptation to legislate extreme remedies to correct non-existent problems?
. See United States v. Janis,
In NLRB v. South Bay Breeze,
. Counsel objected to the admission of Form 1-213 on grounds of hearsay, lack of jurisdiction, and Miranda violations. [SS 37] Subsequently, counsel moved “to suppress 1-213 and to terminate the proceedings” because “INS regulations require that the officer who makes the initial arrest is not to be the officer who examines the arrested person for their 1-213 purposes but rather some other officer...” [SS 61] He further objected on the grounds that another form, 1-214, was not executed and there was no showing that Sandoval-Sanchez knowingly waived his Miranda rights. [SS 62]
Thus, the motion to terminate the proceedings was not even made on fourth amendment search and seizure grounds. In fact, at the close of the hearing, counsel requested that the immigration judge reconsider his motions and counsel stated, in response to the judge’s denial, “well, I’m not sure that I have covered all of the grounds that I wish to adduce in support of those motions.” [SS 76] The immigration judge indicated that he considered the matter closed. Id.
On appeal, counsel renewed objections to Form 1-213 on the grounds that “ ‘no proper foundation was laid’ for the admission of the document, and the information reflected on the form ‘was obtained involuntarily’ ” and in violation of his Miranda rights. [SS 16-17]
He also claimed for the first time on appeal that his client’s initial detention and arrest deprived him of due process. The arrest also:
“was ultra vires the Service’s lawful authority and was based upon illegal search and was lacking in prpbable cause but was invidiously racially discriminatory [sic] and therefore suspect. Respondent was arrested without a warrant although there was no likelihood he would flee. The Judge erred in not granting Respondent’s Motion to Terminate proceedings because of lack of jurisdiction based on an invalid Order to Show Cause and illegal procedure violative of the fourth amendment tainting the proceedings. [SS 22]
The record demonstrates, however, that counsel for Sandoval-Sanchez did not base his motion to terminate on the grounds of illegal arrest or seizure. Thus, counsel moved to suppress and to terminate the proceedings, but not on the ground that his arrest and seizure violated the fourth amendment.
. Lopez-Mendoza’s fourth amendment contention was “[t]hat the entry of immigration onto the premises ... where respondent was employed, and his subsequent arrest ... was invalid, illegal, and that, therefore, this court has
The record demonstrates that the BIA correctly determined [L-M 002], that Lopez-Mendoza never objected to the admission of form 1-213 [L-M 115] or his affidavit. [L-M 116] The immigration judge based his finding of deportation on this evidence.
On appeal to the BIA, Lopez-Mendoza did not argue that this evidence should have been excluded. Rather, he contended that his arrest was illegal and that the exclusionary rule should be expanded so that deportation proceedings may be terminated [L-M 002]. Such expansion, Lopez-Mendoza argued, “would provide an effective remedy to deportable aliens illegally arrested and [would] deter service officers from making illegal arrests. [L-M 002]
. If good cause for delay is demonstrated, the trial court, in its discretion, may consider the motion. United States v. Woods,
. See also n. 1 supra, and n. 9-10, infra.
. Wong Chung Che,
. No case cited in support of this principle includes a holding in this regard or resulted in any exclusion of evidence from a deportation proceeding. See Roa-Rodriquez v. United States,
The majority also refers to Fragomen, Procedural Aspects of Illegal Searches and Seizure in Deportation Cases, 14 San Diego L.Rev. 151, 163 (1976) (now well established that exclusionary rule applies despite universal characterization of deportation as civil proceedings). Except for the citation to Wong Chung Che v. INS,
. In Wong Chung Che,
. In a footnote, the Court explained that the exclusionary rule had been applied in civil forfeiture proceedings because they are characterized as quasi-criminal in nature. United States v. Janis,
. That the Supreme Court has confined application of the exclusionary rule to situations where the government is seeking to impose a criminal penalty, e.g., Calandra,
[t]he “unreasonable searches and seizures” condemned in the' Fourth Amendment are almost always made for the purpose of compelling a man to give evidence against himself, which in criminal cases is condemned in the Fifth Amendment; and compelling a man “in a criminal case to be a witness against himself,” which is condemned in the Fifth Amendment, throws light on the question as to what is an “unreasonable search and seizure” within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment. And we have been unable to perceive that the seizure of a man’s private books and papers to be used in evidence against him is different from compelling substantially him to be a witness against himself. We think it is within the clear intent and meaning of those terms.
* * * * * *
Id.
In Gouled v. United States,
In 1914, the Court held that for the first time “the Fourth Amendment alone may be the basis for excluding from a federal criminal trial evidence seized by a federal officer in violation solely of that Amendment.” Janis,
In 1969, the Court restricted application of the rule, and declined to extend it to one who was not the victim of the unlawful search. The Court stressed that “[t]he deterrent values of preventing the incrimination of those whose rights the police have violated have been considered sufficient to justify the suppression of probative evidence even though the case against the defendant is weakened or destroyed. We adhere to that judgment.” Alderman v. United States,
This principle was reaffirmed in 1974 in Calandra. There, the Court explained that standing to invoke the rule had been confined to situations where the government seeks to use evidence to incriminate the victim of the government’s unlawful conduct.
. In United States v. Calandra,
. The Calandra Court distinguished Silverthorne Lumber Co. v. United States,
. Neither deportation proceedings nor grand jury hearings involve an adversarial determination of guilt or innocence. Further, we are asked by persons who lack the traditional standing of criminal defendants to apply the rule to all proceedings involving civil deportation, just as the Court in Calandra was asked to do with respect to grand jury proceedings. Given these similarities, we are bound to consider, in the balancing process mandated by Calandra, the “historic function and role” of the civil deportation proceedings. Accord Stone v. Powell,
. This is not to say that aliens who claim to be citizens are not entitled to notice and an opportunity to be heard to determine their status. To be sure, “aliens who have once passed through our gates, even illegally, may be expelled only after proceedings conforming to traditional standards of fairness encompassed in due process of law” Shaughnessy v. United States,
-Where, however, a civil deportation statute exacts a penalty but does not provide for criminal safeguards, the act is unconstitutional. See, e.g., Wong Wing v. United States,
Concurrence Opinion
specially concurring in the dissenting opinion:
Three factors must be weighed before deciding whether to apply the exclusionary rule: the deterrent impact it might have, the societal costs of applying it, and the need for deterrence in the particular setting.
A. Deterrent Impact
The Court has evaluated the rule’s deterrent impact in light of its “assumptions of human nature and the interrelationship of the various components of the law enforcement system.” United States v. Janis,
In United States v. Calandra,
In Janis, the Court held that evidence seized by a state law enforcement officer in good faith, but nevertheless in violation of the Fourth Amendment, was admissible in a civil proceeding by or against the United States.
Calandra and Janis are based on the assumption that the more likely an officer is
We have held that the exclusionary rule is inapplicable in probation revocation and subsequent sentencing proceedings where the officer was unaware of the probationer’s status. United States v. Vandemark,
This suggests there would be a deterrent effect if the rule were applied in deportation proceedings because these proceedings are within immigration officers’ zone of primary interest. Matter of Sandoval, 17 I & N Dee. 70, 78 (BIA 1979).
In many cases, however, the aliens uncovered through unlawful investigations will be deportable on the basis of evidence in the INS files. The government’s burden, in many deportation proceedings, is solely to establish the identity and alienage of the respondent, who has the burden to show time, place, and manner of entry. 8 U.S.C. § 1361. Since “identity” is not subject to suppression, see, e.g., Wong Chung Che v. INS,
B. Societal Costs
Application of the exclusionary rule may impose significant societal costs. In a deportation proceeding, these costs might include: diverting attention from the “main issues” in deportation proceedings, overburdening immigration judges, and permitting unlawful aliens to remain in the United States, in effect “sanctioning ... a continuing violation of this country’s immigration laws.” Matter of Sandoval, 17 I & N Dec. at 80-81.
If I were persuaded the exclusionary rule would have a significant deterrent impact and that there was a need for deterrence in this setting, societal costs would not cause me to reject its application. They are less onerous than the societal costs imposed by the rule in criminal trials.
When compared with only a minimal deterrent impact, however, these costs raise a serious question whether the exclusionary rule should be applied here. The societal interest in the efficient enforcement of immigration laws may outweigh the potential incremental safeguarding of Fourth Amendment rights.
C. Need for Deterrence
The third factor to be considered is the need for deterrence. The primary consideration here is the function performed by the officers sought to be deterred.
The need for deterrence is greatest when we are concerned with the conduct of officers who are armed and have broad and discretionary authority to investigate the commission of crimes and apprehend suspects. The potential for abuse of that authority poses such a substantial threat to the rights guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment that it justifies the extreme remedy of the exclusionary rule.
At the other end of the spectrum, officers with limited powers to investigate compliance with civil, regulatory measures pose a less immediate threat to constitutional rights. Accordingly, the need for the extreme sanction of the exclusionary rule is less compelling. Cf. Todd Shipyards Corp. v. Secretary of Labor,
Immigration and border patrol agents fall somewhere between these two extremes. On one hand, they do enforce criminal laws, they can be armed, and they have
These agents, however, are also charged with enforcing civil immigration laws. In both of these cases agents were trying to determine whether individuals were deport-able aliens. They did not use weapons or threaten violence. They were not seeking to apprehend criminals.
These are not cases in which the manner of seizing evidence was so egregious as to call for the deterrent impact of the rule. See Ex Parte Jackson,
In Jackson, deportation proceedings were brought against a resident alien who belonged to a controversial labor organization. Seeking to put an end to its activities, federal agents and soldiers “perpetrated a reign of terror, violence, and crime against citizen and alien alike.”
he and his kind are less a danger to America than those who indorse or use the methods that brought him to deportation. These latter are the mob and the spirit of violence and intolerance incarnate, the most alarming manifestation in America today.
Id. at 113.
The conduct of the agents in these eases simply is not comparable to the conduct of the agents in Ramira-Cordova or in Jackson. In this setting, the function performed by the agents is fairly analogized to the function performed by officers enforcing civil, regulatory measures. As such, the need for deterrence is less than in a case involving criminal law enforcement, or the use or threat of violence.
D. Conclusion
Considering all three factors, I conclude the exclusionary rule should not be applied here. I would hold that where the exclusionary rule would have a minimal deterrent impact, the officers involved were enforcing civil laws in a peaceful manner, and the rule would impose significant societal costs, it should not be applied.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting:
I join in Judge Alarcon’s dissenting opinion and have added my separate thoughts.
The majority’s extension of the exclusionary rule to the suppression of oral statements in civil deportation proceedings is particularly inapposite in light of the recent Supreme Court holding in Florida v. Royer, -U.S. -,
* * * [L]aw enforcement officers do not violate the Fourth Amendment by merely approaching an individual on the street or in another public place, by asking him if he is willing to answer some questions, by putting questions to him if the person is willing to listen, or by offering in evidence in a criminal prosecution his voluntary answers to such questions. See Dunaway v. New York,442 U.S. 200 , 210 n. 12 [99 S.Ct. 2248 ,2255 n. 12,60 L.Ed.2d 824 ] (1979); Terry v. Ohio,392 U.S. 1 , 31, 32-33,88 S.Ct. 1868 , 1885-86,20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968) (Harlan, J., concurring); id., at 34,88 S.Ct. at 1886 (White, J., concurring). Nor would the fact that the officer identifies himself as a police officer, without more, convert the encounter into a seizure requiring some level of objection justification United States v. Mendenhall,446 U.S. 544 , 555,100 S.Ct. 1870 , 1877,64 L.Ed.2d 497 (1980) (opinion of Stewart, J.). The person approached, however, need not answer any question put to him; indeed he may decline to*1098 listen to the questions at all and may go on his way. Terry v. Ohio, supra, at 32-33,88 S.Ct. at 1885-86 (Harlan, J., concurring); id., at 34,88 S.Ct. at 1886 (White, J., concurring). He may not be detained even momentarily without reasonable, objective grounds for doing so; and his refusal to listen or answer does not, without more, furnish those grounds. United States v. Mendenhall, supra,446 U.S. at 556 ,100 S.Ct. at 1878 (opinion of Stewart, J.). * * *
Id.
The agents in this case did not violate the Fourth Amendment “by merely approaching” the suspected aliens and “by putting questions” to them, first in English and then in Spanish. When the subjects answered and conceded alienage and also illegal entry, the agents were justified in detaining them for they had probable cause to believe them to be in this country illegally. The subsequent reduction of this information to writing as a result of more questioning at the place of detention, added nothing new to the information which the agents had already legally obtained.
The majority makes much of its conclusion that Officer Bower had “no specific recollection” of Sandoval and could not pinpoint the specific conduct which attracted their attention. Eventually the majority concludes that all the observations of the agents, focused or unfocused, were simply patently insufficient to justify even a brief Terry stop of Sandoval. This to me appears too cozy. The record as a whole shows that all of the persons to whom questions were addressed first in English and then in Spanish had exhibited some behavior which preceded the questioning. Sandoval was among those asked in Spanish whether “they had papers.” He had none. Of the group subsequently transported to the station, some immediately accepted voluntary deportation. Sandoval and Lopez declined. Sandoval willingly answered the questions which are contained in the 1-213 form.
In Lopez’s case, there was no response to the agent’s questions in English made at the transmission shop where he worked. Agent Eddy testified that he questioned Lopez; asked him his name, where he was from, how he entered the United States, about his family ties, “equities” in the United States and from those responses determined that Lopez was in the country illegally. This information was subsequently incorporated in the 1-213 form.
If, as the majority states, the connection of Lopez and Sandoval to the attention-attracting conduct observed by the agents is not set forth with sufficient explicitness or detail, the remedy for that omission would be for the court to say that the record lacked that requisite explicitness. In such case there could be proper remand to determine whether indeed these two individuals had been so engaged. Instead, the majority leaps to the adoption of a sweeping exclusionary rule because that is what the majority was all about from the start.
None of the information was ever used against either appellant in any criminal case. The majority ignores this fact. It first treats the case as one of illegal arrest, and then, invoking the authority of criminal cases, pronounces of the unavailability in a deportation hearing statements which were voluntarily made.
The majority has reached out to exclude from a civil deportation proceeding evidence which would otherwise have been admissible. The majority believes that deportation proceedings are not really “civil” as we know that term but ought to be classified on the same level as those which are denominated “criminal.” While these two cases furnish a shaky vehicle for the journey from civil to criminal, the majority has had little difficulty convincing its members that the time has come to change the rules on immigration. Even if that were to be the conclusion from a record of documented injustices, no such record exists here. Hence, I dissent.
Concurrence Opinion
specially concurring.
Under the compulsion of Intern. Ladies’ Garment Workers’, Etc. v. Sureck,
