Court filing
Amicus Brief — Scholars of Refugee Law Opposing Emergency Stay — Huisha-Huisha v. Mayorkas (2021-09-23, 1)
Filed September 23, 2021 in Nancy Huisha-Huisha v. Alejandro Mayorkas; one of 56 filings from this case.
Record facts
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit |
|---|---|
| Filed | 2021-09-23 |
Full text
ORAL ARGUMENT NOT YET SCHEDULED
No. 21-5200
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT
NANCY GIMENA HUISHA-HUISHA, on behalf of herself and others similarly situated,
Plaintiffs-Appellees,
v.
ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, Secretary of Homeland Security, et al.,
Defendants-Appellants.
On Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of Columbia, No. 1:21-cv-00100
Before the Honorable Judge Emmet G. Sullivan
BRIEF FOR SCHOLARS OF REFUGEE AND IMMIGRATION LAW AS
AMICI CURIAE IN OPPOSITION TO DEFENDANTS-APPELLANTS’
EMERGENCY MOTION TO STAY PENDING APPEAL
NOAH A. LEVINE
WILMER CUTLER PICKERING
HALE AND DORR LLP
7 World Trade Center
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007
(212) 230-8875
DANIEL S. VOLCHOK
SPENCER L. TODD
WILMER CUTLER PICKERING
HALE AND DORR LLP
1875 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20006
(202) 663-6000
September 23, 2021
USCA Case #21-5200 Document #1915429 Filed: 09/23/2021 Page 1 of 21
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CERTIFICATE AS TO PARTIES, RULINGS, AND RELATED CASES
A.
Parties And Amici Curiae
Except for the amici joining this brief and any other amici who had not yet
entered an appearance in this case as of the filing of the appellants’ brief, all
parties, intervenors, and amici appearing before the district court and this Court are
listed in Defendants-Appellants’ brief.
B.
Rulings Under Review
The ruling at issue is listed in Defendants-Appellants’ opening brief.
C.
Related Cases
Amici agree with the assertion in the government’s stay motion that there
are no related cases within the meaning of Circuit Rule 28(a)(1)(C).
/s/ Daniel S. Volchok
DANIEL S. VOLCHOK
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CIRCUIT RULE 29(d) STATEMENT
The amici joining in this brief are filing a separate brief from other amici.
The separate brief is necessary because the amici joining this brief have a
unique perspective—that of professors who teach and publish scholarship about
United States refugee and immigration law. In particular, they have a strong
interest in the proper interpretation and administration of the nation’s immigration
laws for refugees. Amici submitting this brief were permitted by the district court
to present their views separately from other amici.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
CERTIFICATE AS TO PARTIES, RULINGS, AND RELATED
CASES ........................................................................................................................ i
CIRCUIT RULE 29(d) STATEMENT ..................................................................... ii
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES .................................................................................... iv
GLOSSARY ............................................................................................................... v
INTEREST OF AMICI CURIAE .............................................................................. 1
BACKGROUND ....................................................................................................... 2
ARGUMENT ............................................................................................................. 5
THE CDC ORDER VIOLATES STATUTES PROVIDING FOR ASYLUM,
WITHHOLDING OF REMOVAL, AND PROTECTION AGAINST TORTURE ......................... 5
A.
United States Statutes Protect From Removal
Noncitizens Facing Persecution Or Torture In Their
Home Countries ..................................................................................... 5
B.
Section 265 Does Not Override The Specific Protections
From Removal That Congress Has Enacted In The
Intervening Decades .............................................................................. 7
CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................ 12
CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
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TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
Page(s)
CASES
Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, 138 S. Ct. 1612 (2018) ............................................... 8
FDA v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., 529 U.S. 120 (2000) ....................... 11
INS v. Aguirre-Aguirre, 526 U.S. 415 (1999) ............................................................ 6
United States v. Fausto, 484 U.S. 439 (1988) ......................................................... 11
STATUTES, RULES, AND REGULATIONS
8 U.S.C.
§1101 ............................................................................................................... 5
§1158 ......................................................................................................... 6, 10
§1182 ............................................................................................................... 9
§1225 ......................................................................................................... 4, 10
§1229a .......................................................................................................... 6, 9
§1231 ............................................................................................................... 6
42 U.S.C.
Part G ............................................................................................................. 11
§265 ...................................................................................2, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998, Pub. L. No.
105-277, 112 Stat. 2681 ................................................................................... 7
Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of
1996, Pub. L. No. 104-208, 100 Stat. 3009 ..................................................... 9
Refugee Act of 1980, P.L. No. 96-212, 94 Stat. 102 ................................................. 5
8 C.F.R.
§208.16 ............................................................................................................ 7
§208.17 ............................................................................................................ 7
§235.3 ............................................................................................................ 10
42 C.F.R. Part 71 ...................................................................................................... 11
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85 Fed. Reg.
17,061 (Mar. 26, 2020) ................................................................................ 2, 3
56,424 (Sept. 11, 2020) ................................................................................... 2
86 Fed. Reg.
9,942 (Feb. 17, 2021) ....................................................................................... 3
38,717 (July 22, 2021) ..................................................................................... 3
42,828 (Aug. 5, 2021) .................................................................... 2, 3, 4, 7, 10
OTHER AUTHORITIES
Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees Signed at Geneva, July
28, 1951, 189 U.N.T.S. 150 ............................................................................. 5
Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, Jan. 31, 1967, 19 U.S.T.
6223 ................................................................................................................. 5
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GLOSSARY
CAT
United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel,
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
CDC
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
IIRIRA
Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of
1996
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INTEREST OF AMICI CURIAE1
Amici curiae are scholars with expertise in United States and international
law governing refugees and United States immigration law; they have collectively
spent decades researching and writing about refugee and immigration law. Amici
are as follows:
T. Alexander Aleinikoff is University Professor at The New School and
Director of the Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility; former United
Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees (2010-2015); and co-
author of a leading textbook, Immigration and Citizenship: Process and
Policy.
Deborah Anker is Clinical Professor of Law at Harvard Law School;
Founder of the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinic; and author of a
leading treatise, Law of Asylum in the United States.
James C. Hathaway is the James E. and Sarah A. Degan Professor of Law at
Michigan Law, University of Michigan; founding director of Michigan
Law’s Program in Refugee and Asylum Law; and the author of The Rights of
Refugees under International Law.
Gerald L. Neuman is the J. Sinclair Armstrong Professor of International,
Foreign, and Comparative Law at Harvard Law School; a Co-Director of the
Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School; and the author of Strangers
to the Constitution: Immigrants, Borders and Fundamental Law.2
1 No counsel for a party authored this brief in whole or in part, and no person other
than amici or their counsel made a monetary contribution to fund the preparation or
submission of this brief. Amici are contemporaneously filing a motion for leave to
file this brief.
2 University affiliations are provided solely for informational purposes.
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This brief provides an overview of the protections that Congress has enacted
for refugees, often to effectuate principles of international law and United States
treaty obligations. As explained below, 42 U.S.C. §265 does not free the executive
from the asylum, withholding of removal, or CAT protections mandated by
Congress. Because the government is thus unlikely to succeed on the merits of its
appeal, its motion to stay pending appeal should be denied.
BACKGROUND
Last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) issued a
final rule authorizing the CDC Director to suspend “the introduction into the
United States of persons from designated foreign countries” if necessary to address
the danger of introducing “communicable disease into the United States.”
Suspension of the Right To Introduce and Prohibition of Introduction of Persons
Into United States From Designated Foreign Countries or Places for Public
Health Purposes, 85 Fed. Reg. 56,424, 56,425 (Sept. 11, 2020). Prior to that, the
CDC Director—purporting to act pursuant to a previous interim version of this
rule—issued an order “suspend[ing] the introduction” of persons from Mexico or
Canada who otherwise would enter a “congregate setting” in a land port of entry or
Border Patrol station. Order Suspending Introduction of Certain Persons From
Countries Where a Communicable Disease Exists, 85 Fed. Reg. 17,061, 17,067
(Mar. 26, 2020). This order did not apply to (1) United States citizens, lawful
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permanent residents, and the spouses or children of U.S. citizens or lawful
permanent residents; (2) members of the U.S. military, and their spouses or
children; or (3) persons who arrive at a port of entry who have valid travel
documents or are in the visa waiver program and not otherwise subject to travel
restrictions. Id. at 17,061. Those persons who remained covered after these
exceptions were denominated “covered aliens,” id., and subject to removal by the
Department of Homeland Security immediately or as rapidly as possible, id. at
17,067.
In February 2021, the CDC announced a temporary exception from
expulsion for unaccompanied minors encountered in the United States. See Notice
of Temporary Exception from Expulsion of Unaccompanied Noncitizen Children
Pending Forthcoming Public Health Determination, 86 Fed. Reg. 9,942 (Feb. 17,
2021). The CDC subsequently confirmed this exception. See Public Health
Determination Regarding an Exception for Unaccompanied Noncitizen Children
From the Order Suspending the Right To Introduce Certain Persons from
Countries Where a Quarantinable Communicable Disease Exists, 86 Fed. Reg.
38,717 (July 22, 2021).
Last month, the CDC issued a new order, which replaced and superseded the
previous orders. See Public Health Reassessment and Order Suspending the Right
to Introduce Certain Persons from Countries Where a Quarantinable
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Communicable Disease Exists, 86 Fed. Reg. 42,828 (Aug. 5, 2021) (“Order”).
This Order continues to prohibit the introduction of “covered noncitizens,” defined
to include single adults and “family units,” into the United States along U.S.
borders. Id. at 42,837. The Order maintains the exception for unaccompanied
noncitizen children. Id. at 42,837-42,838.
Before the CDC Order’s issuance, the Immigration and Nationality Act
(“INA”) already authorized expedited removal of noncitizens who (1) arrive at the
border without valid entry documents or (2) are apprehended after having entered
the country without inspection and cannot prove that they have been physically
present here for two years. See 8 U.S.C. §1225(b)(1)(A)(i), (iii). Immigration
officers may proceed to remove such noncitizens immediately unless the
noncitizen indicates an intention to apply for asylum, in which case asylum officers
evaluate whether the noncitizen has a credible fear of persecution. See id.
§1225(b)(1)(B). In light of this existing authority, the genuinely new authority
granted by the CDC Order targets a particular group: “covered noncitizens” who
would seek asylum or withholding of removal.
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ARGUMENT
THE CDC ORDER VIOLATES STATUTES PROVIDING FOR ASYLUM,
WITHHOLDING OF REMOVAL, AND PROTECTION AGAINST TORTURE
A.
United States Statutes Protect From Removal Noncitizens Facing
Persecution Or Torture In Their Home Countries
From 1980 through 2008, Congress enacted a series of protections for
noncitizens arriving or already present in the United States who face persecution or
torture in their home countries. These statutes effectuate principles of international
law and treaty obligations of the United States, including those enshrined in the
1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, July 28, 1951,
189 U.N.T.S. 150, and its 1967 Protocol, Jan. 31, 1967, 19 U.S.T. 6223, the latter
of which the United States ratified in 1968.
A first protection is asylum. Congress established the asylum process in the
Refugee Act of 1980, Pub. L. No. 96-212, 94 Stat. 102, which largely adopted the
definition of “refugee” in the 1951 Convention and 1967 Protocol. As relevant
here, United States law defines a “refugee” as
any person who is outside any country of such person’s nationality …
and who is unable or unwilling to return to, and is unable or unwilling
to avail himself or herself of the protection of, that country because of
persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race,
religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or
political opinion.
8 U.S.C. §1101(a)(42); compare 1951 Convention art. 1(A)(2); 1967 Protocol art.
1(2). With certain exceptions (none of which concerns public health), the INA
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guarantees “[a]ny alien who is physically present in the United States”—like each
plaintiff here—the right to apply for asylum protection as a refugee. 8 U.S.C.
§1158(a)(1), (b)(1)(A). In other words, while the determination of whether to
grant asylum is discretionary, the right to apply for asylum is not.
A second protection is withholding of removal for those facing persecution
at home. While the INA authorizes removal of noncitizens from the United States
for specified reasons, see, e.g., 8 U.S.C. §1229a(a)(2), it prohibits removal (with
exceptions not relevant here) to a country if “the alien’s life or freedom would be
threatened in that country because of the alien’s race, religion, nationality,
membership in a particular social group, or political opinion,” id. §1231(b)(3)(A).
Unlike asylum, withholding of removal is mandatory if its requirements are
satisfied. See, e.g., INS v. Aguirre-Aguirre, 526 U.S. 415, 419-420 (1999). This
prohibition on forcible return to a country where a person’s life or freedom would
be threatened derives from the international law principle of non-refoulement.
That principle is set forth in, among other sources, the 1951 Convention, which
provides that “[n]o Contracting State shall expel or return (‘refouler’) a refugee in
any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom
would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a
particular social group or political opinion.” 1951 Convention, Art. 33(1).
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Yet a third protection for noncitizens is protection from torture, derived from
the United States’ implementation of the United Nations Convention Against
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
(“CAT”). See Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998, Pub. L. No.
105-277, §2242, 112 Stat. 2681, 2681-2822 (codified at 8 U.S.C. §1231 note).
Under the regulations implementing that statute, withholding or deferral of
removal is mandatory if the applicant shows that it is “more likely than not that he
or she would be tortured if removed to the proposed country of removal.” 8 C.F.R.
§§208.16(c)(2), 208.17(a). And whereas asylum and withholding of deportation
require that the threat to the noncitizen be based on his or her race, religion,
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion, a threat of
torture need not be so based in order to qualify for protection.
B.
Section 265 Does Not Override The Specific Protections From
Removal That Congress Has Enacted In The Intervening Decades
The CDC Order’s instruction that “covered noncitizens” be promptly
removed from the United States with no opportunity to invoke asylum or
withholding of removal—and with no provision for the processing of CAT claims
other than “affirmative, spontaneous” statements by the noncitizen—rests on the
proposition that a provision of the 1944 Public Health Service Act, 42 U.S.C.
§265, overrides the statutory protections described above. That proposition lacks
merit for several reasons.
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First, it is a longstanding rule of statutory construction that “[w]hen
confronted with two Acts of Congress allegedly touching on the same topic, [a]
Court is not at liberty to pick and choose among congressional enactments and
must instead strive to give effect to both.” Epic Sys. Corp. v. Lewis, 138 S. Ct.
1612, 1624 (2018) (quotation marks and citation omitted). Here, it is entirely
possible to “give effect” to both the public-health statute and each of the
immigration provisions discussed above. Indeed, doing so would give effect to the
most natural construction of the public-health statute. That law gives the U.S.
surgeon general “the power to prohibit … the introduction of persons and
property” into the United States (emphasis added). It is not about removal (or
expulsion) of persons from the United States. Nor, importantly, does section 265
address the myriad protections in U.S. law (described above) against the forcible
return of persons to countries where they face persecution or torture. There is
simply no reason why section 265 must, or should, be read to address a subject
about which it says nothing—removal or expulsion of persons from the United
States—or to negate fundamental, internationally recognized, and congressionally
legislated protections that section 265 never mentions.
Second, congressional action in the 75-plus years since the Public Health
Service Act was enacted further confirms that Congress would not have understood
it to override the statutory protections described earlier. To start, Congress has
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long addressed communicable diseases in the immigration laws: The INA states
that a noncitizen is inadmissible if he or she has “a communicable disease of public
health significance,” which determination is to be made “in accordance with
regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.” 8 U.S.C.
§1182(a(1)(A)(i). In making this an inadmissibility ground, Congress also made it
a ground for removal of persons who have arrived at a port of entry or entered the
country without inspection. See id. §1229a(a)(2) (authorizing charging of “alien”
in removal proceedings “with any applicable ground of inadmissibility under
section 1182(a)”). Yet having provided for removal on this communicable-disease
ground, Congress subjected that removal power to the normal defenses to removal,
see id. §1229a(c)(4), including the protections of asylum, withholding of removal,
and CAT. Given that, it would be unreasonable to read section 265—a provision
from an earlier public-health law—to free the Executive Branch from the
restrictions against removal in those later-enacted laws.
Congress also has specifically addressed executive authority to conduct
expedited removal of persons who either arrive at the country’s land borders or
cross them without inspection. It did so in the Illegal Immigration Reform and
Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (“IIRIRA”), Pub. L. No. 104-208, 100 Stat.
3009. That law, while purporting to authorize executive officials to remove certain
individuals, nevertheless requires that noncitizens subject to expedited removal
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have an opportunity to present any grounds they may have for asylum, withholding
of deportation, or CAT protection. See 8 U.S.C. §1225(b)(1) (authorizing removal
without a substantial hearing “unless the alien indicates either an intention to apply
for asylum under section 1158 of this title or a fear of persecution”); 8 C.F.R.
§235.3(b)(4) (requiring an interview “[i]f an alien subject to the expedited removal
provisions indicates an intention to apply for asylum, or expresses a fear of
persecution or torture, or a fear of return to his or her country”). The CDC Order
denies these protections to the same persons covered by the INA’s expedited
removal procedures: persons denominated “covered noncitizens” by the Order.
But Congress already considered the circumstances in which inadmissible
noncitizens could be removed expeditiously, and it made clear that even in those
circumstances, the noncitizen is entitled to a substantial hearing (at minimum, an
asylum officer interview, subject to further review) on claims of persecution or
torture giving rise to protection from removal. Again, given what Congress
actually did in addressing expedited removal in IIRIRA, it would be unreasonable
to read section 265 to free the Executive Branch from the restrictions enacted in
expedited removal provisions.
In sum, in the decades after Congress enacted section 265, it enacted a
comprehensive set of immigration laws that both address the issues at the heart of
the CDC Order—communicable diseases and expedited removal—and impose
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specific restrictions on the authority of the Executive Branch to remove noncitizens
from the United States in service of important broadly-recognized principles,
including non-refoulement. That history is significant because “the meaning of
one statute may be affected by other Acts, particularly where Congress has spoken
subsequently and more specifically to the topic at hand.” FDA v. Brown &
Williamson Tobacco Corp., 529 U.S. 120, 133 (2000). In other words, the “classic
judicial task of reconciling many laws enacted over time, and getting them to
‘make sense’ in combination, necessarily assumes that the implications of a statute
may be altered by the implications of a later statute.” United States v. Fausto, 484
U.S. 439, 453 (1988). And put simply, section 265 cannot be read to negate the
on-point statutory protections that Congress subsequently enacted.
Nor is such a reading necessary to ensure public safety, as the government
has suggested. The current legal structure provides the government with ample
tools to address communicable diseases while honoring the immigration
protections Congress has provided. Those tools include testing and quarantine of
noncitizens; indeed, Congress has provided for just that power, see 42 U.S.C. Part
G (Quarantine and Inspection), and the CDC has issued Foreign Quarantine
Regulations pursuant to that authority, see 42 C.F.R. Part 71 (Foreign Quarantine).
That is final confirmation that section 265 should not be read to override bedrock
protections against persecution and torture that Congress (consistent with our
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treaty obligations) has expressly mandated as part of the Nation’s immigration
laws.
CONCLUSION
The government’s stay motion should be denied because section 265 does
not free the Executive Branch from the asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT
protections mandated by Congress, and hence the government is unlikely to
succeed on the merits of its appeal.
Respectfully submitted.
/s/ Daniel S. Volchok
NOAH A. LEVINE
WILMER CUTLER PICKERING
HALE AND DORR LLP
7 World Trade Center
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007
(212) 230-8875
DANIEL S. VOLCHOK
SPENCER L. TODD
WILMER CUTLER PICKERING
HALE AND DORR LLP
1875 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20006
(202) 663-6000
September 23, 2021
USCA Case #21-5200 Document #1915429 Filed: 09/23/2021 Page 19 of 21
CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE
Amici are not aware of a rule governing the permitted length of an amicus
brief in support of or in opposition to a motion. Consistent with the general
approach of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure regarding the length of
amicus briefs, see Fed. R. App. P. 29(a)(5)-(6), amici have limited their brief to
2,600 words, half the permitted length of a motion or opposition. According to the
word-count function of the word-processing system used to prepare the brief, the
petition contains 2,583 words, excluding the portions exempted by Rule 32(f).
/s/ Daniel S. Volchok
Daniel S. Volchok
USCA Case #21-5200 Document #1915429 Filed: 09/23/2021 Page 20 of 21
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
On this 23rd day of September, 2021, I electronically filed the foregoing
using the Court’s appellate CM/ECF system. Counsel for all parties to the case are
registered CM/ECF users and will be served by that system.
/s/ Daniel S. Volchok
DANIEL S. VOLCHOK
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