Request for Custody Redetermination Hearing (2008-02-25)
Synopsis
I had bond hearing in early January 2008, and was granted a bond of $5,000.
Subsequently, on 2008-02-06, DHS admitted on the record that they had no evidence of alienage - that is, no evidence I was not born in the US. At that same hearing, both the DHS lawyer and the judge openly acknowledged the burden was on the government to first establish alienage.
Neither ICE nor the Immigration Court, have any authority or jurisdiction over a person who is not an alien - that is, over a person who was born in the US. And as the judge and DHS acknowledged, the burden is on DHS to prove the person was not born in the US, it is not on the person to prove they were born in the US.
It was my position that DHS's acknowledgment, in court, that they had no evidence of alienage, created a material change in circumstances, warranting a new custody determination. Until DHS has established, with clear and convincing evidence, that a person is an alien, it is illegal for them to detain that person on immigration allegations.
PDFA88 664 582
1705 East Hanna Road
Eloy, Arizona 85231
Redetermination Hearing
The Respondent, Richard Steven Riess in pro se, respectfully requests of the court to be granted a Custody Redetermination Hearing for the reason that, by the Department of Homeland Security's own admission, in court on February 6th, 2008 the Department has absolutely no evidence of my alleged alienage and, as such, has no authority or jurisdiction to arrest or detain me.
Section 287 of the Immigration and Nationality Act grants authority to detain a "person suspected of being an alien" only for the purpose of interrogation and only "briefly". All other references in Section 287 are to "aliens" which implies that alienage MUST be established BEFORE an arrest and detention can be executed.
For the foregoing reasons, the Respondent respectfully requests that the court grant a custody redetermination hearing in this matter.
Richard Steven Riess
Certificate of Service
I, Richard Steven Riess, hereby certify that a true and correct copy of the attached "Request for Custody Redetermination Hearing" was served upon the interested party addressed below by placing a copy in a sealed envelope and mailed by the Institutional inter-house mail system.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Immigration and Customs Enforcement
1705 E. Hanna Rd.
Eloy, Arizona 85231