Zhang v. Aviles
- Katherine Failla
- 1:15-cv-05340
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Zhang v. Aviles, Judge Failla ordered letters on possible mootness after developments in Zhang’s detention and immigration proceedings.
Yun Zhou Zhang and the government respondents named in the case, as well as any successor officials whose names might be added to the caption.
What happened
Zhang v. Aviles concerns a petition involving Zhang’s immigration detention. An earlier order required the Government to provide Zhang an individualized bond hearing and closed the case, but the Government appealed, and the Second Circuit later sent the matter back for reconsideration.
The court was told that Zhang received bond hearings, was eventually granted bond, and was released from immigration custody on December 30, 2015. The court was also told that Zhang received relief from removal, although the Government’s appeal of that decision remained pending.
Judge Katherine Polk Failla did not decide whether the petition was moot. She ordered the parties to file letters by June 2, 2020, stating their positions on mootness and, if they believed the case was not moot, proposing next steps and identifying successor officials for any caption update.
The detailed version
- Zhang v. Aviles · No. 1:15-cv-05340
- Katherine Failla
- May 18, 2020
Background
The petitioner is Yun Zhou Zhang. The respondents are Oscar Aviles, in his official capacity as Warden of Hudson County Correctional Facility; Christopher Shanahan, in his official capacity as New York Field Office Director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Jeh Johnson, in his official capacity as Secretary of Homeland Security; and Loretta Lynch, in her official capacity as Attorney General of the United States.
On July 29, 2015, Judge Shira A. Scheindlin ordered the Government to provide Zhang with an individualized bond hearing within 15 days and closed the case. The respondents appealed that decision on September 28, 2015. On April 27, 2020, the Second Circuit sent the matter back to the district court for further consideration in light of the Supreme Court’s decisions in Nielsen v. Preap and Jennings v. Rodriguez. The matter was reassigned to Judge Failla on April 28, 2020.
Developments Relevant to Mootness
The court stated that it had been advised that Zhang received an individualized bond hearing on August 5, 2015, which continued to September 15, 2015. At that time, an immigration judge denied bond. Zhang later received a second bond hearing based on changed circumstances, and bond was granted. Zhang was released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody on December 30, 2015, and remained at liberty.
The court also stated that an immigration judge granted Zhang’s application for relief from removal on July 13, 2018. The Government appealed that decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals, and that appeal remained pending.
Order
The court did not determine whether the petition had become moot. It ordered the parties to file letters by June 2, 2020, explaining their positions on that question. If a party believed the matter was not moot, the party also had to propose next steps. The court further directed those parties to identify the public officers who had succeeded the named respondents in their official positions so that the caption could be updated under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 25(d).
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.