Jose Mejia-Henriquez v. Attorney General United States of America
Split Score
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Case Summary
Disposition
Dismissed
The Third Circuit dismissed Jose Ramiro Mejia-Henriquez’s petition for review of the BIA’s denial of Convention Against Torture (CAT) deferral as moot. Because Mejia-Henriquez was removed to El Salvador and is now incarcerated there, the court held no effectual relief is possible and rejected arguments that collateral consequences or ICE Directive 11061.1 preserved a live controversy.
Circuit Split Identified
Legal Issue
Whether a CAT-only petition for review filed after an alien has been removed is rendered non-moot by ICE Directive 11061.1’s promise to facilitate return, thereby allowing Article III jurisdiction.
Circuit Positions
CAT-only petition remains justiciable because ICE Directive 11061.1 ordinarily allows the government to facilitate the petitioner’s return if the petition succeeds.
CAT-only petition is moot after removal when collateral consequences are not redressable and Directive 11061.1 will not (or cannot) realistically be invoked—thus no Article III case or controversy exists.
Conflict Summary
Some circuits hold that the possibility of return under ICE Directive 11061.1 is sufficient to prevent mootness of a CAT-only petition filed after removal, whereas the Third Circuit concludes such petitions can still be moot—particularly where ‘extraordinary circumstances’ (e.g., foreign incarceration or national-security concerns) make return exceedingly unlikely and the re-entry bar remains unaffected.