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Sanchez v. Sessions

Facts

Luis Sanchez, a Mexican citizen, was detained by the Coast Guard after his boat lost power during a fishing trip. The Coast Guard officers suspected Sanchez and his friends were undocumented aliens based solely on their Latino appearance. Despite Sanchez providing his driver's license, he was held without explanation and later taken into custody by Customs and Border Protection (CBP), leading to removal proceedings against him.

Sanchez is a forty-seven year old citizen of Mexico. He was seventeen years old when he entered the United States without inspection in 1988 and has lived in this country ever since. Until December 1, 1988, Sanchez's father was a legalized Special Agricultural Worker. This meant that Sanchez was eligible to apply for Family Unity Benefits, a program that grants unmarried children of such legalized workers authorization to reside and work in the United States.

Issue

Did the Coast Guard's detention of Sanchez violate 8 C.F.R. 287.8(b)(2) by lacking reasonable suspicion based on specific articulable facts?

Did the Coast Guard's detention of Sanchez violate 8 C.F.R. 287.8(b)(2) by lacking reasonable suspicion based on specific articulable facts?

Rule

Under 8 C.F.R. 287.8(b)(2), immigration officers may only detain individuals if they have reasonable suspicion based on specific articulable facts that the person is unlawfully present in the United States.

The subject regulation, 8 C.F.R. 287.8(b)(2) , states that '[i]f the immigration officer has a reasonable suspicion, based on specific articulable facts, that the person being questioned is, or is attempting to be, engaged in an offense against the United States or is an alien illegally in the United States, the immigration officer may briefly detain the person for questioning.'

Analysis

The court determined that the Coast Guard officers did not have reasonable suspicion to detain Sanchez, as their actions were based solely on his race. The record lacked specific articulable facts that would justify the detention, and the officers had not established Sanchez's identity before contacting CBP. Therefore, the detention was deemed a violation of the regulation.

On these facts, we agree with Sanchez that it appears he was detained solely on the basis of his race. The Government has yet to offer specific and articulable facts that would support the Coast Guard officers' decision to detain Sanchez on the basis of reasonable suspicion that he was unlawfully present in this country or otherwise engaged in illegal activity.

Conclusion

The Ninth Circuit granted Sanchez's petition for review and remanded the case for further proceedings, allowing the Government to rebut Sanchez's prima facie showing of a regulatory violation.

We grant the petition and conclude that Sanchez has made a prima facie showing that he was seized solely on the basis of his Latino appearance, which constitutes a particularly egregious regulatory violation.

Who won?

Luis Sanchez prevailed in the case because the court found that his detention was based solely on race, violating the regulatory requirement for reasonable suspicion.

Luis Sanchez prevailed in the case because the court found that his detention was based solely on race, violating the regulatory requirement for reasonable suspicion.

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