Mendez-Barocio v. William Barr

Background

Juan Mendez-Barocio, a detainee at the Mersa Verde ICE Processing Center, filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241, the statute that allows a federal court to review certain detention-related claims. He filed the petition without a lawyer. He also moved for a temporary restraining order, permission to proceed without paying the filing fee, a stay of removal, appointment of counsel, and permission to amend or correct the petition.

Mendez-Barocio stated that his removal case was ongoing, had involved appeals to the Board of Immigration Appeals, and was then pending before the Ninth Circuit. He primarily sought release because he asserted that his health conditions placed him at high risk of serious illness or death from COVID-19.

Jurisdiction and exhaustion

The court held that it had no basis to exercise jurisdiction over the action. It explained that review of final removal orders is generally assigned exclusively to the courts of appeals, rather than district courts, and that Mendez-Barocio’s matter was already pending before the Ninth Circuit.

The court also found that Mendez-Barocio had not exhausted available judicial remedies. Although courts may sometimes excuse exhaustion, the court found no basis to do so at that time. It noted that the Ninth Circuit could determine its own jurisdiction over the removal-order review and that seeking review there was not futile. The court therefore stated that the petition had to be denied for lack of jurisdiction and failure to exhaust.

Filing fee

The Clerk had notified Mendez-Barocio that he had 28 days to pay the filing fee or submit a complete application to proceed without paying it. The court found that he had not complied with that notice and said the action was also subject to dismissal for failure to pay the filing fee.

Related motions and class action

The court ordered that the petition for a writ of habeas corpus be DENIED for lack of jurisdiction, failure to exhaust, and failure to pay the filing fee. It denied as moot Mendez-Barocio’s motions for a temporary restraining order, permission to proceed without paying the filing fee, a stay of removal, appointment of counsel, and permission to amend.

The court directed the Clerk to provide Mendez-Barocio with a notice concerning the related class action, Zepeda Rivas v. Jennings, Case No. 20-cv-02731. The order described that action as involving a process to consider temporary release of people to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. The court did not decide the merits of Mendez-Barocio’s underlying claims.