Okay, the Aziz case (the one in Virginia) is now in the electronic system. No motion for contempt has been filed, but an amended habeas corpus petition has been filed. Here are the highlights:
As a result, upon information and belief, Department of Homeland Security officials have been effectuating the ban by bullying these arriving immigrants into “voluntarily” relinquishing their claims to lawful permanent residence into the United States.
On information and belief, respondents (through their agents and employees) lied to immigrants arriving after the Executive Order was signed, falsely telling them that if they did not sign a relinquishment of their legal rights, they would be formally ordered removed from the United States, which would bring legal consequences including a five-year bar for reentry to the United States. Because respondents knew that there was no valid, legal basis to remove these individuals from the United States, these were material, false representations.
Throughout this time, respondents denied arriving immigrants access to legal counsel.
On information and belief, these acts occurred nationwide, including but not limited to Washington-Dulles International Airport. During the first 24 to 48 hours that the ban was in place, Customs & Border Protection reports that it denied entry to at least 109 individuals. Many of these individuals were unlawfully compelled to “voluntarily” renounce their U.S. immigration status.
Tareq and Ammar signed these papers because agents or employees of respondents misrepresented that, if they failed to sign them, that they would be ineligible for entry to the United States for a period of at least five years. That representation was not true.
Tareq and Ammar are currently in Addis Ababa Bole International Airport, where they remain in limbo. They do not want to return to Yemen, which is currently in a state of civil
war. They are thus constructively in the custody of the United States. Tareq and Ammar wish to return to the United States, to reside with their father.
What happened to Tareq and Ammar is illustrative of what happened to dozens— if not hundreds—of LPRs and immigrant visa holders throughout the country on January 27 and 28, 2017. In these circumstances described above, any relinquishment of rights via a form I-407 was not voluntary, knowing, or freely given. Instead, it was the direct product of respondents’ agents’ misrepresentations as to what would occur if these individuals refused to sign. On information and belief, similarly-situated individuals who did not sign I-407s were ultimately admitted into the United States—thus demonstrating the falsity of the representations of respondents’ agents.
The complaint alleges that there is a class of people similarly situated to the Azises, and so it is being set up to proceed as a class action. The class would be former green card holders who signed forms relinquishing their green cards after being given false information by the CBP. Part of the remedy is reinstating the green cards and permitting return of the class members to the United States.
The government has not yet appeared, but I expect that to happen very soon. I also expect an early motion to certify the class. I would be surprised to see a contempt motion at this point, as the named plaintiffs have already been sent back, so getting them legal representation at the airport can't help them. Contempt motions may come after discovery into how many people were held, how many people were deported after notice of the TRO, how many people were denied access to counsel after the TRO, etc.
No hearings were scheduled.
The Attorney General of Washington announced today that the State would sue to challenge the legality of the executive order. I checked the system, and it apparently hasn't been filed yet.
“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.”
― Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 1951
