LUU v. IMMIGRATION NATURALIZATION SERVICE

Full title: QUOC XUONG LUU, Petitioner, v. IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE…

Court: United States District Court, E.D. California

Date published: Oct 28, 2008

No. CIV S-08-1744 WBS GGH P (E.D. Cal. Oct. 28, 2008)

Opinion

No. CIV S-08-1744 WBS GGH P.

October 28, 2008

ORDER

GREGORY HOLLOWS, Magistrate Judge

Petitioner, a prisoner proceeding pro se, has purportedly filed a petition pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241, together with a request to proceed in forma pauperis. Examination of the in forma pauperis affidavit reveals that petitioner is unable to afford the costs of suit. Accordingly, the request for leave to proceed in forma pauperis is granted. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a).

This filing, transferred from the Northern District, is difficult to navigate. Petitioner sets forth an essentially indecipherable ground for relief: "whether the Sixth Amendment liberty guarantee its interpretation of protection to foreign entity the beauty to utilize respondent's constitutional principles." Petition, p. 18.

Petitioner, currently incarcerated at California State Prison-Solano, claims that he and his family entered the United States in 1986 as refugees, after fleeing from Viet Nam. Id. Petitioner recounts that he pled "nolo contest [sic]" to various state criminal offenses in Santa Clara County Superior Court including, but not limited to, robbery, home invasion, and assault with a deadly weapon. Id. Petitioner states that he was sentenced to a twelve-year state prison term, with a calculated release date of March 27, 2008; however, he maintains that his current release date has been extended to November 30, 2008, due to various prison disciplinary infractions. Id., at 18-19.

On February 1, 1999, respondent issued a "hold, warrant or detainer," indicating that an investigation had been initiated to determine whether petitioner was subject to removal from the U.S. Petition, p. 19; Exhibit A, pp. 8-9. At pages 8-16 of the petition, petitioner recounts the previous unsuccessful avenues he has pursued to challenge the hold/detainer. However, although petitioner claims this matter comes within this court's jurisdiction, petitioner has a threshold obstacle:

[t]he petition has an incurable flaw: [petitioner] cannot meet the custody requirement. Federal jurisdiction over a petition for writ of habeas corpus exists only for petitions filed by persons `in custody' at the time the petition is filed." See U.S.C. § 2241(c); Carafas v. LaVallee, 391 U.S. 234, 238, 88 S. Ct. 1556 (1968). "[T]he bare detainer letter alone does not sufficiently place an alien in INS custody to make habeas corpus available.' Campos v. INS, 62 F.3d 311, 314 (9^th Cir. 1995) (quoting Garcia v. Taylor, 40 F.3d 299, 303 (9^th Cir. 1994). The petitioner has to be in custody for the action he seeks to challenge in his habeas petition.

Mitchell v. Gonzales, 2007 WL 2688693 *1 (N.D. Cal. 2007) [emphasis added].

Although incarcerated in state prison for violations of state law, petitioner makes clear, on the face of his petition, that he is not currently in custody as a result of the hold he apparently seeks to challenge. The petition will be dismissed. Although it appears that petitioner will be unable to cure the defect of this petition, petitioner will be granted leave to amend, within thirty days, on the appropriate form for this district.

Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:

1. Petitioner's request to proceed in forma pauperis is granted;

2. The petition is dismissed with leave to amend, within thirty days, on the appropriate form for this district; and

3. The Clerk of the Court is directed to send petitioner the appropriate form for filing a habeas petition, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241. § 2241 HABEAS CORPUS PETITION FORM TO BE USED BY PRISONERS IN ACTIONS UNDER 28 U.S.C. § 2241 OR IN ACTIONS CHALLENGING REMOVAL PROCEEDINGS

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA _________________________________, Inmate/Alien # __________________. _________________________________ _________________________________ _________________________________. (Enter full name of Petitioner, prison number or alien [A] number, if applicable, AND address of place of confinement.) vs. CASE NO: ________________________ (To be assigned by Clerk) ________________________________, ________________________________, ________________________________, ________________________________, ________________________________. (Enter name and title of each Respondent. If additional space is required, use the blank area below and directly to the right.)

ALL APPLICANTS MUST COMPLETE THIS ENTIRE FORM ANSWER ALL OF THE FOLLOWING:

28 U.S.C. § 2255 28 U.S.C. § 2255 briefly briefly briefly briefly 1. This petition concerns (check where applicable): (a). a conviction (b). a sentence (c). prison disciplinary action or other action resulting in lost gain time credits (d). parole (e). immigration/removal (f). other (explain): _____________________________________________________ 2. Provide the following information regarding the conviction(s) and sentence(s) for which you are presently incarcerated: (a). Name(s) and location(s) of court: _________________________________________________________ (b). Case Number(s): ___________________________________________________________________________ (c). Charge(s) for which you were convicted: ___________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ (d). What was your plea? (Check one) (1) Not Guilty (2) Guilty (3) Nolo contendere (e). Did you appeal from the judgment of conviction? Yes No 3. If you did appeal, answer the following: (a) Name of Court: ____________________________________________________ Case #: ________ (b) Result: ____________________________________________________________________________ (c) Date of opinion and mandate (citation, if known): __________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ 4. Claims that challenge your conviction or imposition of sentence can only be raised by motion under unless the § 2255 motion is inadequate or ineffective to test the legality of your detention. If any of the grounds raised above challenge your conviction or sentencing: (a) Have you filed a motion under ? Yes No If yes, please provide the case #, where filed, relevant date(s), and the results: __________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (b). Explain why the remedy under § 2255 was or is inadequate or ineffective: ___________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 5. Are you currently represented by counsel in this case or in any other court case? Yes No If yes, please explain: ___________________________________________________________________________________ 6. If this case concerns removal proceedings: (a) Date of final order of removal: _______________________________________________________________________ (b) Did you file an appeal with the Board of Immigration Appeals? Yes No 7. In the spaces below, set forth every ground which supports your claim that you are incarcerated unlawfully. Briefly summarize the specific facts in support of each ground raised. Conclusions that are not supported by specific facts are insufficient. You may attach additional pages if necessary to raise additional grounds or provide additional facts. Do not cite any law in your statement of facts. (a). Ground one: _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Supporting FACTS (state without citing cases or law): _______________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Exhaustion: [1] — Have you presented ground one to the Bureau of Prisons, either through the prison grievance system or other administrative proceeding? Yes No If yes, please provide the results of the proceeding(s) and the relevant date(s). Include any appeals: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ [2]-(Answer only if you are challenging an issue related to removal (immigration) proceedings) — Did you present ground one to the Board of Immigration Appeals? Yes No If yes, please provide the results of the proceeding(s) and the relevant date(s). _____________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (b). Ground two: _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Supporting FACTS (state without citing cases or law): ______________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Exhaustion: [1] — Have you presented ground two to the Bureau of Prisons, either through the prison grievance system or other administrative proceeding? Yes No If yes, please provide the results of the proceeding(s) and the relevant date(s). Include any appeals: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ [2]-(Answer only if you are challenging an issue related to removal (immigration) proceedings) — Did you present ground two to the Board of Immigration Appeals? Yes No If yes, please provide the results of the proceeding(s) and the relevant date(s). ________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (c). Ground three: ____________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Supporting FACTS (state without citing cases or law): ____________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Exhaustion: [1] — Have you presented ground three to the Bureau of Prisons, either through the prison grievance system or other administrative proceeding? Yes No If yes, please provide the results of the proceeding(s) and the relevant date(s). Include any appeals: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ [2]-(Answer only if you are challenging an issue related to removal (immigration) proceedings) — Did you present ground three to the Board of Immigration Appeals? Yes No If yes, please provide the results of the proceeding(s) and the relevant date(s). ________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (d). Ground four: _____________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Supporting FACTS (state without citing cases or law): ____________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Exhaustion: [1] — Have you presented ground four to the Bureau of Prisons, either through the prison grievance system or other administrative proceeding? Yes No If yes, please provide the results of the proceeding(s) and the relevant date(s). Include any appeals: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ [2]-(Answer only if you are challenging an issue related to removal (immigration) proceedings) — Did you present ground four to the Board of Immigration Appeals? Yes No If yes, please provide the results of the proceeding(s) and the relevant date(s). ________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 8. WHEREFORE, based upon the grounds raised above, Petitioner prays that the court will grant the following relief: ___________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

DECLARATION

I declare under penalty of perjury that I have read the above and the information contained herein is true and correct. _____________________ _____________________________________________ (Date) Signature of Petitioner

IF MAILED BY PRISONER:

I declare or state under penalty of perjury that this petition was (check one): delivered to prison officials for mailing, or deposited in the prison's internal mail system on: ________________________________ (date). ______________________________________________ Signature of Petitioner