Filed: Apr. 06, 2011
Latest Update: Feb. 22, 2020
Summary: [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT FILED _ U.S. COURT OF APPEALS ELEVENTH CIRCUIT No. 10-13517 APR 6, 2011 JOHN LEY Non-Argument Calendar CLERK _ D.C. Docket No. 6:10-cv-00206-ACC-GJK SUSAN DOROTHY ARNOLD, KENNY DEAN ARNOLD, JAY RYAN ARNOLD, KEITH DOUGLAS ARNOLD, Plaintiffs-Appellants, versus US ATTORNEY GENERAL, SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, DIRECTOR OF THE US CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES (USCIS), ACTING DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF T
Summary: [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT FILED _ U.S. COURT OF APPEALS ELEVENTH CIRCUIT No. 10-13517 APR 6, 2011 JOHN LEY Non-Argument Calendar CLERK _ D.C. Docket No. 6:10-cv-00206-ACC-GJK SUSAN DOROTHY ARNOLD, KENNY DEAN ARNOLD, JAY RYAN ARNOLD, KEITH DOUGLAS ARNOLD, Plaintiffs-Appellants, versus US ATTORNEY GENERAL, SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, DIRECTOR OF THE US CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES (USCIS), ACTING DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF TH..
More
[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT FILED
________________________ U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
No. 10-13517 APR 6, 2011
JOHN LEY
Non-Argument Calendar CLERK
________________________
D.C. Docket No. 6:10-cv-00206-ACC-GJK
SUSAN DOROTHY ARNOLD,
KENNY DEAN ARNOLD,
JAY RYAN ARNOLD,
KEITH DOUGLAS ARNOLD,
Plaintiffs-Appellants,
versus
US ATTORNEY GENERAL,
SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY,
DIRECTOR OF THE US CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
SERVICES (USCIS),
ACTING DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF
THE US CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION (CBP),
ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE US IMMIGRATION
AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT (ICE),
lDefendants-Appellees.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Florida
________________________
(April 6, 2011)
Before CARNES, MARCUS and FAY, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Keith, Susan, Kenny, and Jay Arnold (collectively, “the Arnolds”), natives and
citizens of the United Kingdom, appeal the dismissal of their 28 U.S.C. § 2241 habeas
petition. In that petition, the Arnolds alleged that: (1) Customs and Border Protection
(“CBP”) officers wrongfully accused them of immigration fraud and erroneously
found them to be inadmissible into the United States; (2) the officers processed Keith
Arnold for expedited removal under the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”) and
temporarily paroled Susan, Kenny, and Jay Arnold into the country so that they could
finalize their business affairs; (3) they were seeking habeas review of the terms of
their temporary parole; and (4) as citizens of the United Kingdom, they were entitled
to a full hearing before the Executive Office for Immigration Review (“EOIR”). The
district court dismissed their petition for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, finding
that they failed to satisfy § 2241’s “in custody” requirement, and that their claims
were otherwise barred by the INA.
2
On appeal, the Arnolds argue that the district court erred in dismissing their
§ 2241 petition for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. First, they assert that Susan,
Kenny, and Jay Arnold were “in custody” for purposes of § 2241 at the time they filed
their petition, because their temporary parole imposed a significant restraint on their
liberty. Second, the Arnolds contend that the court had jurisdiction, pursuant to §
2241(c)(3), to consider whether the CBP violated their treaty rights under the
Convention to Regulate Commerce by denying them a full EOIR hearing prior to
finding them inadmissible. Finally, they suggest that the court also had jurisdiction
pursuant to the INA. After careful review, we affirm.
We review de novo a district court’s dismissal of an action for lack of subject
matter jurisdiction. United States v. Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Ala., Inc.,
156 F.3d
1098, 1101-02 (11th Cir. 1998). “The burden for establishing federal subject matter
jurisdiction rests with the party bringing the claim.” Sweet Pea Marine, Ltd. v. APJ
Marine, Inc.,
411 F.3d 1242, 1247 (11th Cir. 2005).
With respect to the district court’s authority to consider the present action, 28
U.S.C. § 2241 confers district court jurisdiction over habeas petitions brought by
individuals who are, inter alia, “in custody” of the United States, or “in custody in
violation of the Constitution or laws or treaties of the United States.” See 28 U.S.C.
§ 2241(c)(1), (3). In order to satisfy § 2241’s “custody” requirement, petitioners
3
must allege that they are subject to a “significant restraint” on their liberty at the time
of filing. Patel v. U.S. Att’y Gen.,
334 F.3d 1259, 1263 (11th Cir. 2003).
We have previously held that an alien who has already been deported by the
time he files his petition does not satisfy the custody requirement because he is
“‘subject to no greater restraint than any other non-citizen living outside American
borders.’”
Id. (quoting Miranda v. Reno,
238 F.3d 1156, 1159 (9th Cir. 2001)).
Moreover, we have suggested that the mere possibility of future deportation is
insufficient to establish custody, even when the petitioner is subject to a deportation
order. See United States ex rel. Marcello v. Dist. Dir. of INS,
634 F.2d 964, 970-71
(5th Cir. Jan. 22, 1981) (noting that the alien filed his petition “at a time when,
arguably, he was merely subject to a deportation order and not ‘held in custody’”).1
In that case, we ultimately determined that the petitioner was “in custody” not
because he faced deportation, but rather because his liberty was restrained by periodic
reporting requirements.
Id. at 971 & n.11. Notably, aliens who are temporarily
paroled into the country pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1182(d)(5)(A), are subject only to
“such conditions as [the Attorney General] may prescribe.”
1
In Bonner v. City of Prichard,
661 F.2d 1206, 1209 (11th Cir.1981), this court adopted as
binding precedent all decisions of the former Fifth Circuit handed down prior to October 1, 1981.
4
In this case, the district court properly concluded that it lacked subject matter
jurisdiction to consider the Arnolds’ petition because the Arnolds were not in the
“custody” of immigration officials at the time of the filing. The record indicates that
Keith Arnold had already been removed to the United Kingdom at the time the
petition was filed, and that Susan, Kenny, and Jay Arnold failed to show that they
were subject to any restraints on their liberty during their period of temporary parole.
Further, to the extent the Arnolds argue that the INA provides independent habeas
jurisdiction that is not subject to § 2241’s custody requirement, any such argument
lacks merit. See 8 U.S.C. § 1329 (providing that “[n]othing in [the INA] shall be
construed as providing jurisdiction for suits against the United States or its agencies
or officers”). Accordingly, because the Arnolds failed to establish the existence of
habeas jurisdiction under § 2241, we affirm.
AFFIRMED.
5