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Keywords

statuteharassment

statutewillharassmentregulationvisa

Related Cases

Thai v. Ashcroft

Facts

Tuan Thai, a native of Vietnam, entered the United States as a lawful permanent resident in 1996. He has a criminal record that includes convictions for assault, harassment, and third-degree rape. After serving his sentences, the government initiated removal proceedings against him, which resulted in an order of removal. However, due to the lack of a repatriation agreement with Vietnam, the government was unable to secure travel documents for Thai, making his removal not reasonably foreseeable.

Petitioner Thai is a native and citizen of Vietnam. Thai left Vietnam without a Vietnamese passport or exit visa and entered the United States as a lawful permanent resident pursuant to the Amerasian Immigration Act. Since his entry into the United States in 1996, Thai has established a record as a violent criminal, accumulating convictions for assault, harassment, and third-degree rape.

Issue

Whether 8 U.S.C. 1231(a)(6) authorizes the continued and potentially indefinite detention of an alien based on a determination that the alien's mental illness makes him specially dangerous to the community.

This case requires us to consider whether 8 U.S.C. 1231(a)(6), as construed by the Supreme Court in Zadvydas v. Davis, 533 U.S. 678, 150 L. Ed. 2d 653, 121 S. Ct. 2491 (2001), authorizes the continued and potentially indefinite detention of an alien based on a determination that the alien's mental illness makes him specially dangerous to the community.

Rule

The Supreme Court's interpretation of 8 U.S.C. 1231(a)(6) limits an alien's post-removal-period detention to a period reasonably necessary to effectuate removal and does not permit indefinite detention.

In Zadvydas, the Supreme Court held that, in order to avoid a 'serious constitutional threat,' 1231(a)(6) must be construed as limiting an alien's post-removal-period detention to the period reasonably necessary to remove the alien from the United States.

Analysis

The court applied the rule from Zadvydas v. Davis, which held that indefinite detention raises serious constitutional concerns. The court found that since Thai's removal was not reasonably foreseeable, his continued detention was not authorized under 1231(a)(6). The governments argument that Thai's mental illness justified his indefinite detention was rejected, as the court interpreted the statute to forbid such detention once removal was unlikely.

We read Zadvydas differently and hold that the Supreme Court's statutory construction of 1231(a)(6) does not authorize the continued detention of Thai, and we therefore affirm the District Court's grant of Thai's habeas petition.

Conclusion

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of Thai's habeas petition, concluding that his continued detention was not authorized under the statute.

The Court further held that the statute did not authorize extended detention of an alien subject to an order of removal if it is not reasonably foreseeable that the removal will be accomplished.

Who won?

Tuan Thai prevailed in the case because the court found that his continued detention was not justified under the law, as his removal was not reasonably foreseeable.

The District Court concluded that because Zadvydas had interpreted 1231(a)(6) to forbid continued detention once the alien's removal was determined to be unlikely in the reasonably foreseeable future, the detention regulations upon which the Government relied were not valid.

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