9th Cir.;
14-71768

The court of appeals granted a petition for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals. The court held that the Coast Guard's egregious violation of an individual's Fourth Amendment rights warranted suppression of the resulting documents that were used against him at removal proceedings; further, the officers' violation of immigration regulations warranted the termination of removal proceedings.

Mexican citizen Enrique Sanchez entered the U.S. without inspection in 1988, when he was 17 years old. In 2004, he United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) granted Sanchez Family Unity Benefits, which allowed him to reside and work in the U.S.. Those benefits expired in 2006. Sanchez's application for an extension of benefits was denied in 2009 due to three misdemeanor California Veh. Code violations. Sanchez nonetheless remaining in the country. In 2010, Sanchez and some Latino friends went out fishing using Sanchez's small pleasure boat. When the engine died not far from shore, they called the U.S. Coast Guard for assistance. The responding Coast Guard officers towed Sanchez's boat back to the harbor. Upon arriving, however, the officers detained and frisked Sanchez and his friends, and demanded that they hand over their identifications and belongings. Sanchez handed his driver's license, which gave both his name and local address. Without any other information, the Coast Guard officers notified U.S. Customs and Border Protection to report “the possibility of 4 undocumented worker aliens.” Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers thereafter detained and interrogated Sanchez, strip searched him, and retained his identification and wallet. After releasing Sanchez, a CBP officer prepared a Form I-213 (Record of Deportable/Inadmissible Alien) for Sanchez. The Form I-213 included Sanchez's admission that he was undocumented and had entered the United States without inspection. The Form I-213 also stated that the Coast Guard officers had detained Sanchez based on their suspicion that he was an “undocumented worker alien.” Nine months later, Sanchez was served with a notice to appear for removal proceedings.