The Wheels of Justice in Eloy, Arizona

May 1, 2007

This is an extract from the administrative record of a detainee in Eloy, Arizona. Unfortunately, it is not a joke.

[Client charged with offering to transport drugs, a potentially non-removable offense in the Ninth Circuit]

IJ:    All right, sir. Well, based on those factual allegations, the Government is charging that you are removable from the United States because at any time after your admission you have been convicted of violating any law or regulation of a state or the United States that relates to a controlled substance, other than personal possession of marijuana of less than thirty grams in quantity. Do you agree, sir, that you could be removed from the United States on that charge?
A:    I was aware I wasn’t deportable, sir. It was a divisible status —statute?
Q:    That means it’s not an aggravated felony. I don’t know which jailhouse lawyer you’re getting your advice from, but I would go back to the cells and slap him silly and say, You haven’t got a clue, and what you’re telling me is not true. If you want to deny that charge of removability, you can. But I can assure you sitting here right now, that a four-year sentence for a conspiracy to transport cocaine is a conviction that is related to a controlled substance offense. There is a magnitude of case law directly on point. So, you may be eligible for some forms of relief. I will be quite frank with you, however. If that four year sentence is correct, it’s going to be very difficult to surmount. In any amount, do you wish to concede removability on that charge or do you wish to deny the charge of removal?
A:    I only would ask to see if I could have bail, sir?
IJ:    No, you’re not going to be eligible for bail, sir….
A:    How about a cancellation of removal, sir?
IJ:    Well, you’re eligible for that. Sir, rather than get ahead of ourselves, why don’t you simply answer the question that I’m now asking for the third time—
A:    Yes, Sir.
Q:    — which is, do you or do you knot agree that you could be removed from the United States on that charge?
A:    Yes.
Q:    Very well. So does the Court, and I will sustain that charge….
A:    Do you have any fears of being tortured or persecuted if you are removed from the United States to Mexico?
A:    I never—I came here when I was a kid, so I don’t know anything. I have no family in Mexico, sir.
Q:    So, are you afraid that the government of Mexico will torture or persecute you?
A:    I have no idea, sir, how the country is.
Q:    Well, sir, you spent the first 11 years of your life there. You live in the American Southwest with Mexico right now less than sixty miles from where you’re sitting.
A:    Yes. Well—
Q:    To claim total ignorance of the country that probably still has several of your relatives in it is not real credible, sir.
A:    Where I was born, there’s a lot of violence in the state.
Q:    Okay. You’re not listening to my question, again.
A:    Yes, sir.
Q:    This is the second time you’ve been guilty of that. My question is, are you afraid that the government of Mexico will torture or persecute you? The government, not some random violence. Not somebody walking down the streets of Guanajuato. If you are, tell me, and you’ll be eligible for withholding. Withholding only because four years on drug trafficking is a particularly serious crime in this court and in most other immigration courts. You are unduly prolonging the hearing—
A:    Okay, sir.
Q:    — because you’re not listening and you’re not paying attention.
A:    I’m a little nervous here.
Q:    Well. For the third time, do you have any fears of being tortured or persecuted in Mexico?
A:    Yes, sir.
Q:    I will provide you an application. I can tell you right now—Well, what is it you’re afraid of, other than I haven’t been there for a long time? That’ s not a fear of the government sir. What is your fear of the government? It has to be a fear based on political opinion, race, religion, or membership in a particular social group. Which of those are you afraid of, or why are they going to persecute you? Somebody might be a little torqued because they don’t want a drug trafficker. Absent that, what’s their problem with you, sir?
A:    I’m just afraid, sir.
Q:    Fine. I’ll provide you a 589. I can tell you right now, the only relief you’re going to be eligible for under the 589 is deferral of removal, and that would leave you detained, and the Government would have to examine your case every 90 days to determine whether or not you are a danger to the people of the United States. If you were, they would continue to detain you. …Look at those two documents, sir, and tell me how long you need to prepare them. I will tell you, if we set a date and you come back to the court with them incomplete, I will deem them abandoned and you will be ordered removed from the United States to Mexico at that time, because I am directing, sir, Mexico as the country of removal.
A: Yes, sir. Give me a month?
Q:    You’ve been in proceedings a month already, sir. Another month is nearly excessive, but I will give you a month. If you come back and they’re incomplete, sir, you’re going to Mexico that afternoon. Do you understand that?
A:    Yes, sir.
Q:    I’m going to reset your case to the 26th of July 2005, at 1:30. Have those documents complete at that time, sir, or you’re going to Mexico. This hearing is continued.